Flower of Vengeance
by A Scary Man
Summary: STORY COMPLETE! Chapter 18: after the final battle against Hojo, Cloud and Tifa look forward to the life they will share.
1. Introduction

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FF7 OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: THIS IS MY FIRST ATTEMPT AT A FAN FICTION. REVIEWS WELCOMED!  
  
Introduction  
  
Two months after the final defeat of Sephiroth. After the devastation and confusion, things are starting to return to normal. Reeve is the new Mayor of Midgar and has begun a rebuilding program for the city. Cloud and Tifa are unsure of their feelings toward each other, but live together in a flat in the newly rebuilt Sector 7. Red XIII has returned to Cosmo Canyon to take over his grandfather's work. Barret lives with Marlene and Elmyra in Sector 6. Cid and Vincent share a flat nearby, and spend most of their time ferrying supplies in the Highwind for Reeve. Yuffie has gone back to Wutai to try and restore the town's pride and fighting traditions. The Turks have founded the new Midgar police force, using the abandoned Shinra building as their headquarters. They maintain a wary yet peaceful relationship with the heroes. But just as the crisis for the Planet has been abated - a new one has been born - one that threatens the Planet's entire human population. Read on to find out more. 


	2. By the Pricking of My Finger

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FF7 OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS

****

PART I:

FLOWER OF VENGEANCE

Chapter One

Cloud Strife yawned and stretched as the early morning sun began poking its rays through the chink in his the curtains. Rolling over in an attempt to see his bedside clock, he misjudged the distance and fell out of bed. Landing on the hard wooden floor jolted him fully awake and left a bruise forming on his hip.

"Cloud? Is that you?"

The door to his room opened and Tifa Lockheart stuck her head round the door, "Did you fall out of bed again? Maybe you should put up some wooden panelling on the side of the bed so you can't fall out."

Cloud grumbled incoherently in an I'm-not-in-the-mood-for-this-at-this-time-in-the-morning way, and got to his feet. Tifa said, "Breakfast is nearly ready, so if you hurry it will still be hot."

She went back downstairs and Cloud got dressed. Almost instinctively he reached towards the wooden chest where his Escort Guard and Ultima Weapon were stored. Getting up in the morning and equipping them had been a part of life for so long – it would be difficult for him to get out of the habit of it. Staring bleary-eyed in the mirror, he ran his hand through his hair a couple of times to make it a bit more respectable, though Tifa had seen him with early-morning hair so many times she wouldn't mind. He stumbled downstairs and into the kitchen. Tifa had plates out on the table and was dishing out breakfast.

"I think the mail's here," she said. "Can you get it while I serve up?"

Cloud went to the mail-box and took out the contents. Walking back into the kitchen, he sat down at the table with Tifa and put down the letters.

"Here's one from the Gold Saucer," he said, opening the first letter. "Hey, they want to use my face to advertise hair gel!"

Tifa laughed. He put the letter down and picked up the next – an advert from an insurance company. Cloud binned it. The third mail item was a magazine he'd forgotten to unsubscribe from, but he put it aside, figuring he might get around to reading it at some point. The fourth letter was addressed to Tifa so he handed it across the table, and picked up the fifth. It was addressed to 'Cloud Strife and Tifa Lockheart', in a strange loopy handwriting he didn't recognise. He checked for a postmark, but there wasn't one.

"Strange," he muttered to himself. "It must be from someone I know, otherwise it would read 'MISTER Cloud Strife and MISS Tifa Lockheart'."

"Sorry, what did you say?" asked Tifa, thinking Cloud was talking to her.

He handed over the mysterious fifth letter, "Do you recognise this writing?"

  
"I don't think so," she said, looking at it closely.

"I couldn't find a postmark or anything to say where it came from," said Cloud. "There's no stamps or postage on it, either."

"Weird," said Tifa. "Might as well open it, I suppose."

She slit open the envelope and reached inside.

"Hey, there's nothing in here," she said, confused.

"Boy, that's strange," said Cloud. "I suppose it could be Cid or Barret playing a practical joke on us."

Tifa felt around inside the envelope but there was definitely nothing in there. Suddenly she screamed, "OW!!"

"You OK? What happened?" Cloud asked in surprise.

Tifa clutched her hand, "I dunno – feels like something stung me – I must have given myself a paper cut."

She held her left hand in her right, in obvious pain, and Cloud could see blood seeping between her fingers.

"That must have been some paper cut," he said. "Look, you're bleeding!"

Tifa jerked suddenly, "Huh? I – "

"Tifa? You OK? You look weird – your face has gone pale…"

"Cloud," she gasped. "I – I – feel strange. I'm dizzy – what's happ – "

Her eyes rolled back and she lost consciousness, slumping forwards over the breakfast table. Cloud leapt to his feet and cried, "TIFA!!"

He shook her by the shoulders but she wasn't waking up. Boy, her face was REALLY pale. Something wasn't right. Cloud bent down to take a closer look at Tifa's left hand, the one she'd supposedly got a paper cut on. Looking very carefully he could see a weird sort of barb sticking out of her hand – like a thorn from a rosebush. His eyes strayed to the envelope that lay open beside Tifa – it must have been inside! It must have punctured her skin when she put her hand inside the envelope. This could only mean one thing – POISON! Whoever sent the envelope must have wanted them to prick themselves on the thorn and poison themselves. But who?

He decided to think about that later – right now he had to worry about Tifa. He felt her wrist for a pulse. It was weak and erratic, but it was there. Cloud had to get her to hospital – but the nearest one was miles away! He grabbed his PHS from his belt and dialled a familiar number.


	3. Death by Mail?

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FF7 OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS  
  
  
  
Chapter Two  
  
Cid Highwind took a long draw from his cigarette and leaned down to peer inside the Highwind's new experimental plasma injection engine. He'd been working on it for years, and the last few days had been pretty exciting as it was finally ready for use. This new design of his would, at the very LEAST, quadruple the ship's speed and acceleration. At least, if it were working.  
  
"I've looked at this %£&*!£ thing three times and I STILL can't find anything wrong," he grumbled to himself as he poked at wires and felt around for any holes in the fuel injection manifold.  
  
"Hey!!" he yelled. "That's what it is! I've plugged these two cables in the wrong way round! What a £&£&!* idiot I am!!"  
  
He reattached the two cables and stood up, banging his head painfully on an overhead pipe.  
  
"OWW!!!" he screamed. "What £*&£(% ^£&$head put that (£*^!& pipe there?!?"  
  
The PHS attached to his belt began ringing. Its shrill insistent tone was really beginning to get on his nerves, especially when he had a headache or a hangover. He grabbed the device and switched it on.  
  
"Yeah? Whadaya want?" he barked into the transmitter, still in a foul mood.  
  
"Cid? It's Cloud. I need your help"  
  
The deadly serious tone in his friend's voice made Cid snap out of his mood.  
  
"What's up?" he asked. "If it's those ^%£"£& Turks again."  
  
"No," said Cloud. "It's Tifa. She - there's something wrong. Something weird. We need to get her to a hospital. Can you bring the Highwind round to our place?"  
  
"Yeah, sure thing," said Cid. "Are you going to tell me what it's all about?"  
  
"When you get here. Hurry, we've no time to lose."  
  
"On my way," said Cid, as he ran to the flight deck.  
  
"Can you pick up Barret and Vincent on the way?" Cloud asked. "Don't ask me to explain right now, but I think we're in danger. It's best if we group together."  
  
"Right! See you in a bit."  
  
Cid started the ship's engines (he'd have to leave the experimental one's big entrance to another day) and took off, heading for Sector 7.  
  
  
  
Cloud had carried Tifa's comatose form through to the front room and had laid her down on the sofa. He knelt by her side, holding her hand, watching her face for the slightest indication that she might be about to wake up. After a while his gaze began to stray back to the breakfast table, where their unfinished meal was still laid out. The envelope with the weird handwriting still lay where Tifa had dropped it beside her plate. The poisonous sting - which he had plucked from her finger - had been given a very wide berth. He'd been meticulously careful not to let it touch any part of him, and it now sat in a plastic box on the kitchen worktop. Who had sent it? Since it had been addressed to them, there was no possibility of it being meant for someone else. Somebody, somewhere, had it in for them. But who? The Shinra corporation was no more and Sephiroth was dead. The Turks weren't exactly fond of them, but Reno and the others were proud warriors and would not have stooped to this subtle cloak-and-dagger treachery. That left.well, nobody. It just didn't make any sense. Cloud found himself growing increasingly paranoid, jumping and looking around anxiously at the slightest sound. Before long he hurried upstairs to his bedroom, to the wooden chest which only that morning he had told himself he'd never have to open again. He strapped Ultima Weapon to his back, and put on the Escort Guard. Opening Tifa's jewellery box, he took out her old Star Pendant and put it round his neck. It was about the only Accessory they had left. Whether or not it would protect him from whatever had poisoned Tifa, he didn't know, but it was better than nothing.  
  
An hour or so later he heard the familiar hum of the Highwind's engine as it landed on the grassy turf a few yards from the house. He opened the front door and watched as Cid, Barret and Vincent climbed down the rope ladder to the ground. They hurried over to the house and Barret yelled, "Cloud! Long time no see! Whassup?"  
  
"Come in and see for yourself," Cloud told them.  
  
The four men entered the house. Cid and Barret gave a jump at seeing Tifa's visibly seriously ill form lying on the sofa. Vincent remained his usual emotionless self, merely asking, "How is she?"  
  
"Not good," said Cloud. "Her pulse is weak and irregular, her skin is cold and pale, but she's still alive. I don't know for how much longer."  
  
"What the hell happened?" asked Barret.  
  
Cloud took them through to the kitchen and showed them the box with the barb inside.  
  
"Don't touch it, whatever you do," he warned them. "That's what poisoned Tifa. It was inside this anonymous letter we got."  
  
"Is this it?" asked Vincent, indicating the envelope lying on the table.  
  
Cloud nodded. Cid frowned, "Hey Vince, didn't we get one like that too?"  
  
Vincent nodded silently, and reached into his tunic to remove a similar envelope., but this one was addressed to 'Cid Highwind and Vincent Valentine'.  
  
"It was in with the rest of our mail," said Cid. "Vincent told me not to open it."  
  
"How'd you know what it was?" asked Cloud.  
  
"I didn't," said Vincent. "I sensed - something. When I was touching the envelope, holding it in my hands, I could feel.deceit.betrayal, maybe. Chaos has a way of sensing these things."  
  
"Barret?" said Cid. "Did you get one of these too?"  
  
Barret shrugged, "Dunno - I didn't look at the mail this morning. Marlene brought it in."  
  
Then he screamed, "MARLENE!! What if she's - if she's been poisoned by one of these damn things too?!?"  
  
He made a bolt for the door, "Quick, Cid, take the Highwind back to my place!"  
  
"Calm down," said Vincent. "Why don't you call Elmyra on the PHS and ask her?"  
  
"Good idea," Cloud said. "Phone the rest of the party too: Yuffie, Red and Reeve. We've got to warn them about this. And tell them to get here right away!!" 


	4. The Party Reunites

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FF7 OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS  
  
  
  
Chapter Three  
  
Yuffie Kisaragi laid her Conformer weapon down on the table and sank down on to her bed. It had been another tiring day. In her bid to restore the traditions and warrior passion of Wutai, she'd sent out a challenge to the entire Planet: that anyone who could defeat her in single combat would become champion and ruler of Wutai. Supremely confident as ever in her own abilities, she made this offer in the hope that the best fighters from around the world would come to Wutai and pass on their skills and honour to the younger ninjas who were still in training. The possibility of defeat never even occurred to Yuffie. She reflected that it had been nice of Cloud and the others to let her keep the bulk of the Materia after they saved the Planet, particularly the Master Summon, Magic and Command Materia they had received in return for the Earth Harp. These three Materia alone meant that Yuffie was virtually invincible in the Wutai arena. She heard her PHS ringing from its place on the bedside table. Yuffie gave a yawn, reached over and switched it on.  
  
"Sorry, the Challenge Arena is fully booked up for another month," she said automatically, before the other person could get a word in. "Please call again."  
  
"Yuffie?" came a voice. "It's Cloud."  
  
"Cloud!" she exclaimed, her heart beat increasing ever so slightly. "How's it going? You haven't been to see me for ages! Are you interested in taking up my challenge?"  
  
"Yuffie!" he said sharply, interrupting the 16-year-old's excited chattering. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to shout. Listen, I didn't call you for a chat. This is important."  
  
"What is?"  
  
"Have you opened your mail this morning?"  
  
"What? Of course not. I have people who do that for me now."  
  
"Did you get an anonymous letter this morning?" asked Cloud.  
  
"Dunno. Hold on while I check."  
  
Yuffie got off the bed and went through to her mail cabinet. She opened the top drawer and looked to see if there was anything new. Clucking her tongue with annoyance, she saw that her staff had yet again forgotten to open her letters. Mind you, sorting through a hundred to a thousand letters every morning and sifting through the junk mail and fan letters to find the personal stuff couldn't be a very interesting job, so she decided to forgive them.  
  
"Cloud? You still there?" she said. "I've got a weird-looking letter right here. No return address or anything. I wonder what's inside?"  
  
"Yuffie!" Cloud shouted. "Don't open the letter! DO NOT open the letter!"  
  
"All right, all right," she said. "Sheesh, keep your hair on. What's the big deal, anyhow?"  
  
"There's a poisoned thorn inside," Cloud told her. "We know because we got one too - and Tifa got stung."  
  
"Is she OK?" Yuffie said, putting the letter on the floor and stepping away from it slowly as if it might attack.  
  
"We don't know," Cloud said. "I'm on the Highwind, on the way to the hospital. We'll see what the doctor says."  
  
"What do you want me to do?"  
  
"Get here as soon as you can," he said. "Destroy that letter in case someone else opens it. Bring as much Materia as you can."  
  
"Are you expecting trouble?"  
  
"Don't know. Just hurry."  
  
He hung up. Yuffie hurried back to her room. Good thing she always kept a bag packed for these kind of emergencies.  
  
Barret paced up and down the flight deck of the Highwind, almost insane with worry and frustration. He hadn't got an answer phoning his house, which meant Elmyra and Marlene were either out, or had been poisoned. He hoped it was the former. He kicked at a metal support pillar in his anger.  
  
"Hey, settle down, stop kicking lumps out of my ship!" Cid yawned. "You're not doing yourself any good."  
  
"All right for you to say," Barret snapped. "Can't this thing go any faster?"  
  
"We're getting there as fast as we can," said Cid. "We're going to drop off Tifa, Cloud and Vincent at the hospital, then carry on to your place."  
  
"What kinda person sends poisoned stingers through the mail anyway?" Barret asked of no-one in particular. "That's no way to fight - that's a coward's way. When we were fightin' the Shinra, we didn't send them poisoned plants in the mail. We FOUGHT - we fought like heroes! An' my people died like heroes!"  
  
"You're going to die of blood pressure if you keep this up," Cid said wearily. "Take a Tranquilliser and shut the £&$^ up."  
  
They sat in a morose silence, watching the city skim by underneath, until they reached the hospital. Using a stretcher from the Highwind's tiny medical bay, Cloud and Vincent hurried inside with Tifa's prostrate form. They found a doctor, and he helped them carry her to an empty room.  
  
"She isn't well," the doctor said, making an understatement. "Tell me exactly what happened while I make a preliminary examination."  
  
Cloud related the events of the morning, while Vincent waited outside to meet the others when they arrived. Reeve pulled up shortly in his mayoral limousine, and Yuffie arrived an hour or so later, having ridden her Gold Chocobo all the way. Soon after this Red XIII appeared, having taken the ship across the ocean. They waited outside the room with Vincent until Cloud and the doctor emerged.  
  
"It's bad news, I'm afraid," the doctor said unhappily. "Very bad news. The poison, whatever it is, has found its way all throughout her system, and her immune system has no way of fighting it alone."  
  
"Will she die?" asked Reeve.  
  
"If the poison isn't stopped within a few days, she will suffer irreparable damage to all major organs," the doctor replied. "I'm afraid there is nothing we can do for her here."  
  
"Isn't there any hope at all?" asked Red.  
  
If the doctor was surprised at seeing the quadripedal party member speak, he didn't show it.  
  
"The poison appears to be a naturally occurring substance," he said. "Not chemically engineered, as far as I can tell. Most likely from a plant of some kind. This means that there may - I repeat MAY - exist a naturally occurring antidote. It would, unfortunately, be far beyond the meagre medical supplies we have here."  
  
The doctor left them and went back through to Tifa's room.  
  
"So what do we do?" asked Yuffie.  
  
"Logically, the best way to find the antidote would be to identify the poison," said Reeve. "I'm no biologist and neither are any of you. How do we find out about it?"  
  
Red spoke up, "My Grandfather was an expert on many topics, including plant biology. Although he is no longer with us, I do have his vast personal library to refer to. I suggest we look there."  
  
"Good idea," said Cloud. "When Cid gets back in the Highwind, we'll go to Cosmo Canyon."  
  
"I too have a suggestion," Vincent intoned solemnly. "The library in the basement of the Shinra Mansion also contains huge quantities of scientific information. I will go there to study."  
  
Reeve said, "As much as I want to help, my commitments here won't allow me to leave. What I will do is send out a message to the Midgar population asking that anyone with biological expertise step forward."  
  
"What about me?" asked Yuffie. "I don't wanna read a buncha books! I HATE studying!! I mean, I want Tifa to get well as much as anyone, but I just wouldn't be any use in a library!"  
  
"In that case, Yuffie, you stay here with Tifa, and make sure she's safe," Cloud said. "I was going to do that myself, but I think I'll go with Red."  
  
"I think I can hear the Highwind," said Red, pricking up his ears.  
  
They went outside to see the Highwind sitting nearby, with Barret hurrying towards the hospital, and Cid engaged in a blazing row with somebody. It seemed he'd parked the Highwind in that somebody's garden. Barret approached at a run, a small bundle in his arms.  
  
"Marlene's sick!" he bawled, tears in his eyes. "She went out to get the mail as a favour for me, and look where it got her! She opened that £&(*^! envelope and stung herself!"  
  
Reeve showed him to the room where the doctor was taking care of Tifa. Vincent and Red managed to stop Cid trying to use the Venus Gospel to settle his argument, and they got on board.  
  
"Barret won't be comin'," said Cid. "He said he'd stay with his little girl. Poor kid."  
  
"We have to find the antidote as fast as we can," said Red. "To Cosmo Canyon!!" 


	5. The Search Begins

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FF7 OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS  
  
  
  
Chapter Four  
  
Red XIII and Cloud hurried up the steps towards Bugenhagen's observatory. Overhead they could see Cid and Vincent, in the Highwind, flying at full speed in the direction of Nibelheim. Hopefully they could find something that might lead to finding a cure for Tifa. No, scrub that, they HAD to find something. Failure didn't bear thinking about. Cloud would never be able to live with himself if Tifa died because he hadn't tried hard enough to cure her. He would do anything and everything it took to bring her back to normal.  
  
"So, Red," he found himself saying as they paused in to allow somebody else through a doorway. "Did you get one of those anonymous letters too?"  
  
Red nodded his head, "Being of a feline nature, my sense of smell told me right away what it was. I burned it immediately."  
  
"I think Reeve mentioned that he got one too," said Cloud. "But he has all his mail electronically scanned for death threats and the like, since he's in such an important position now."  
  
"It seems we have been quite fortunate," Red remarked. "Only two of our friends have been affected. Whoever sent the packages obviously intended for all of us to be poisoned."  
  
"Who is it?" Cloud wondered. "Who can be sending them? Who can hate us that much?"  
  
"I have been pondering that also," said Red. "I can't think of an explanation."  
  
"I guess we can worry about that later," Cloud said, as they continued up the stairs. "We have to find a cure for Tifa first."  
  
They stopped in front of a thick wooden door, which Red pushed open with his front paws. Inside was a small, yet well-stocked and well-organised library. Three or four people sat at reading desks with books of varying shapes and sizes in front of them. They glanced up to see who had entered, then back down at their work.  
  
"The biology section is over here," said Red, leading the way. "I suggest we take what books we need and go up to my grandfather's private study. We will find it much easier to read there."  
  
Cloud grabbed an armful of books that Red decided would be the most useful, and they left the library to go up to Bugenhagen's study. Once there, Cloud sat down at a desk with half the books, Red taking the others. They lifted the heavy leather covers and began to read.  
  
Vincent had been feeling uneasy the moment he and Cid had arrived at Nibelheim. The Chaos beast began nagging at his consciousness, urging him to Transform.  
  
"What is the matter with you?" asked Cid, stubbing out his cigarette and lighting a new one. "You're so uptight! Try to loosen up a bit!"  
  
Vincent gave him a sullen stare, "I would have thought that the seriousness of the situation might permit me this kind of attitude."  
  
"Whatever," Cid yawned. "You better show me where this underground library is then, I can't remember the layout out of this place at all."  
  
Vincent pushed open the front door of the Shinra Mansion and they went inside. The building had the same musty, dead smell it had always had. The cobwebs on the ceiling appeared to have grown larger, and the levels of dust on the floor had increased.  
  
"Cheery type of place, isn't it?" said Cid sarcastically.  
  
They went up the stairs and turned right at the top, going into the room which led to the secret staircase. Making their way down to the basement, they were walking along the corridor to the library, when Vincent put out a hand to stop Cid.  
  
"Wait," the raven-haired man said. "I can feel something - something's not right."  
  
Cid looked around the room but didn't see anything threatening. He shrugged, "So what?"  
  
Vincent frowned, his brow furrowed with concentration, "I - I'm not sure. I had a vague feeling of being under attack - or being trapped. I'm not sure which."  
  
"O - kay," said Cid slowly, not sure whether to take his friend seriously or recommend some medication.  
  
"That's weird - I can't feel it any more," said Vincent, sounding confused. "I don't know - maybe I imagined it. Chaos isn't usually wrong about these things, though."  
  
"Let's just get on with it," said Cid impatiently, pushing open the library door. "We can't afford to waste any time chasing after 'maybes' or 'I'm not sures'."  
  
Vincent followed him through into the dark, forbidding room with books lining the shelves and the hauntingly familiar operating table in the corner. This room was where Vincent's nightmare had begun, all those years ago, at the hands of Professor Hojo. Hojo! Vincent felt an uncharacteristic burst of anger as he remembered the agony of watching his beloved Lucrecia give herself up for the Jenova experiment. Why hadn't he been able to stop her? Why had he stood by and allowed it to happen? WHY?!?  
  
"Right, let's make a start," said Cid, pulling a book at random from the shelves. "You going to help or what?"  
  
Vincent was distracted from his dark thoughts. He began walking along the rows of books, scanning the titles, looking for something that might be helpful. Most of the books were concerned with the Jenova experiment, Hojo's private obsession, the twisted procedure which had been the start of it all - of all the pain and suffering, all the agony and despair, the death and the loss. So many victims - so many had lost so much - even Sephiroth had been a victim - a victim of his father's insanity. Sephiroth, the maniac who had been responsible for nearly destroying the Planet, had suffered as much as anyone - all because of Hojo. It was him. He was responsible for everything that had gone wrong. So many undeserving deaths, so much innocent blood, all on Hojo's hands. Vincent completed a full circle of the room, and found himself staring at the operating table again, where he too had been a victim of Hojo's madness. Hojo - Hojo - Hojo - the name began swirling around in his mind until he could think of nothing else. Suddenly, like a jigsaw puzzle, it fitted together in his head. Of COURSE! He couldn't believe it had taken him so long to realise  
  
"Cid!" he exclaimed. "It's Hojo!"  
  
"Huh?" said Cid, looking up from a book about hydraulics.  
  
"He's the one who's been sending us the poisoned letters," said Vincent. "We knew whoever sent it had to know a lot about biology, right? When I was with the Turks, I was in and out of Hojo's office all the time. His wall was COVERED with certificates and awards for his studies in biological science. There wasn't any other in the world quite like him. And he hates us with a vengeance - which explains why he's doing it."  
  
"Uh, uh, hang on," said Cid, holding up one hand. "There's one thing wrong with that theory. One tiny, almost insignificant fact. Hojo's DEAD!!!"  
  
"He isn't," said Vincent. "He's still alive."  
  
"Get a grip, Valentine, we killed him ourselves!" Cid shouted.  
  
Vincent shook his head, "Please, Cid, just trust me. I know you all think I'm a bit crazy, and you're right. But I know I'm not having delusions right now, I know exactly what I'm talking about. For Tifa's sake, trust me. Just hear me out."  
  
"All right. You better make it fast, she doesn't have a lot of time!"  
  
"I know that. I'm not sure where to begin - "  
  
He was cut off as a huge explosion rocked the building. Cid and Vincent were knocked to the floor. Both got to their feet and looked at each other. Huge clouds of dust were thrown up, making both men cough furiously and their eyes water.  
  
"That feeling you had," Cid gasped. "About being under attack?"  
  
Vincent nodded gravely, "It's Hojo."  
  
  
  
Cloud stifled a yawn and tried to keep his eyes open. It was only mid- afternoon, but he hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast, and his stomach was complaining loudly. He'd been sitting in front these books for hours now, forcing himself to turn page after page, reading through a series of facts that were bereft of any interest or relevance. Only thoughts of Tifa and how much she needed him to do this, kept him going. The words on the page began to blur before his eyes. He just couldn't concentrate. His mind wouldn't let him. He was too worried about Tifa. Even though what he was doing was meant to help her, he just couldn't keep his mind on it for more than a few minutes at a time. He turned in his seat to look at Red. It was funny really, he'd never thought about how difficult Red would find it to turn the pages of a book. In the past, Red had tried to use his teeth, but he found himself ripping too many pages. So Bugenhagen had invented a machine to solve the problem. It was a simple matter to place the book on the mechanical reading table, then all Red had to do was press a button with his paw, and a mechanical arm turned the page for him.  
  
"Anything yet?" asked Cloud.  
  
"Not yet," said Red. "I'm hopeful that this book will contain the right information, though. It seems to deal with poisonous plants in some detail."  
  
"I'm going to go and get something to eat," said Cloud. "I just can't concentrate."  
  
"Very well," said Red. "Can you bring something up for me as well? Salmon if they have it, I'm rather partial to salmon."  
  
Cloud nodded and left the room. Within moments he was back, a grim expression on his face. Red turned to look at him, "Trouble?"  
  
"We're under attack." 


	6. Under Attack

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FF7 OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS  
  
  
  
Chapter Five  
  
Barret leapt to his feet as the doctor emerged from the room where Tifa and Marlene were being treated.  
  
"How are they? Any change?" he asked.  
  
The doctor shook his head, "No better, no worse. The young lady - Tifa? - is both fit and strong, and her natural vitality will keep her going for several days before finally succumbing to the effects of the virus. Your daughter Marlene, however, is still a child, and her immune system is not fully developed. We can give her medicine that won't have any permanent curative effect, but will help her fight the poison until your friends return with an antidote."  
  
"How long will tha' keep her alive?" said Barret.  
  
"A few days, no more," the doctor shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry, Mr Wallace, I really am. We're doing all we can."  
  
"I know, I know," said Barret, his head drooping. "Do whatever it takes. I'll donate any of my organs or blood if she needs it."  
  
"I'm afraid your only hope lies with your friends," the doctor replied. "Any news from them?"  
  
"Not yet. S'pose I should give them a call."  
  
  
  
Cloud picked up the Ultima Weapon from where he had left it resting against the wall, as Red clipped the Limited Moon into place.  
  
"We're under attack?" the feline said. "From whom or what, exactly?"  
  
"Come and see for yourself."  
  
They hurried from the room and outside to the top of the stone steps. Below, at the entrance to Cosmo Canyon, they could see ten or twelve men, wearing a silver uniform, armed with guns, shouting at the general populace.  
  
"Who are they?" asked Red.  
  
"Dunno," said Cloud. "And why are they wearing a silver version of the old Shinra uniform? You know the blue one with the face mask that you can hardly breathe through?"  
  
"Yes, I remember wearing that on the ship to Costa Del Sol," said Red. "I still say I could have passed off as a human! But now is not the time for that. I must defend my home!"  
  
The soldiers down below had noticed the two of them, and began firing their weapons in their direction. Cloud ducked as bullets smacked into the wall where his head had just been. Red let out a war cry and pounded down the steps towards the invaders, Cloud two steps behind him all the way. Dodging a hail of incoming fire, Red threw himself at the nearest attackers, knocking two of them over, sending their weapons skittering away. Two other soldiers turned their guns on the huge lion, but Cloud came in from the other side and attacked with Ultima Weapon. The rest of the soldiers, seeing four of their number taken out with consummate ease, began to lose their nerve, and started backing away towards the entrance. Cloud cast Bolt3, killing two more, and Red leapt forward with a furious roar, causing the remaining soldiers to drop their weapons and flee in terror. Cloud and Red gave chase. The soldiers got as far as the steps that led out of Cosmo Canyon before stopping. At the bottom of the steps stood another soldier, but this one looked different from the rest. He was a lot taller and broader in the shoulder for one thing, his silver armour looked a lot tougher, and the weapon he carried at his side looked almost as big and destructive as Barret's Missing Score.  
  
"That must be their leader," Red reasoned. "If we can defeat him, the rest will surrender."  
  
He and Cloud stood at the entrance to the Canyon as the big soldier marched up the steps menacingly towards them to do battle. The four or five normal soldiers who were left, stood at the bottom of the steps and watched their chief's attack. The huge man's features were entirely hidden behind his facial armour, and as he got closer Cloud realised this was the biggest person he had ever met. Even Barret or Dio would have been dwarfed by this giant. The soldier raised his weapon and battle commenced. Red rolled to one side to avoid a shower of bullets, and cast Fire3 on the soldier, but to little effect. It did, however, keep the soldier distracted while Cloud came running up to swing at him with Ultima Weapon. But to Red's amazement and Cloud's disbelief, the huge ethereal blade merely bounced off the soldier's body armour, forcing Cloud to somersault under the soldier's arm to avoid a retaliatory blow. Red leapt forward, curling himself into a ball in mid-air so as to strike with the Limited Moon, but the huge soldier raised his arm to swat Red out of the air as if he were a troublesome insect. Cloud swung Ultima Weapon twice as powerfully as before, but yet again it failed to harm the soldier, causing a tiny dent in his armour and nothing more. The soldiers at the bottom of the stairs sensed their compatriot was winning, and began cheering.  
  
"COSMO MEMORY!!" Red yelled, giving vent to his most powerful Limit Break.  
  
This was the first damage they'd managed to cause to their seemingly invincible foe, and it gave them a new spirit. As the soldier reeled, still off balance from the force of Red's Limit Break, Cloud stabbed his sword towards the back of the soldier's knee joint, where his armour didn't fully cover. A scream of pain told him he'd penetrated, and the soldier fell forward on to his knees. Through his pain, the soldier still managed to raise his weapon and fire at the oncoming Red, but his aim was poor and the lion came through unscathed, to knock the weapon from his opponent's hand. The soldier fell on to his face, blood still pouring from his wounds, then promptly died, leaving Cloud and Red exhausted and covered in blood and sweat from their exertions, but victorious. By the time they remembered about the soldiers at the bottom of the steps, those enemies had fled.  
  
"What WAS that?" asked Cloud.  
  
Red looked over at their dead foe. The man's helmet had come loose and Red kicked it aside to get a look at the man's face. Both of them gasped when they saw what was under the helmet.  
  
"That's - that's not even HUMAN," said Red.  
  
"I've seen that before," Cloud said.  
  
"Where?"  
  
"In the Nibelheim Reactor five years ago with Sephiroth," Cloud replied. "In one of the growth chambers outside the Jenova facility. What we just fought was one of Hojo's genetically engineered super-soldiers."  
  
  
  
Once the dust had begun to settle in the basement, Vincent and Cid decided they had better get to the surface as quickly as possible to find out exactly what the £$%* was going on, as Cid so eloquently put it. To their dismay however, the corridor outside the library room was entire blocked by fallen rock.  
  
"£*%$$!" Cid exclaimed. "We're trapped!"  
  
"There will be a way out," said Vincent.  
  
He grappled with the nearest rocks for a few moments, but it was hopeless. It would take at least a week to shift all the rock to find a way through, and without food or water they didn't have that much time.  
  
"So what the &%£* are we going to do?!" Cid demanded.  
  
"Why do you always ask these things as if I know the questions to all of life's mysteries?" Vincent snapped, his cool exterior beginning to crack. "We must think logically. Let's go back to the library room."  
  
"Why? What's in there?"  
  
"If the rock in the ceiling has been sufficiently loosened, we may be able to climb out," said Vincent.  
  
They went back through to the library. Overhead a few specks of daylight could be seen poking through the rock above their heads. Cid stood on top of a chair and tried to loosen the rock with his hands, but to no avail.  
  
"&%$£," he cursed. "Hang on, I'm not out of ideas yet. Take cover!"  
  
He reached inside his flight jacket for the stick of dynamite he always kept there for these kind of emergencies. Lighting the fuse on his cigarette, Cid wedged the explosive between the rocks, then leapt down to crawl under the operating table.  
  
"You do realise this might bring the whole building down on our heads?" Vincent asked, joining him.  
  
"Doubt it - the dynamite's not that powerful."  
  
The explosion shook the room and both of them covered their heads to avoid the resulting dust cloud. When all was still once more, Cid got to his feet and whooped, "Yee-ha! The dynamite has blown a way through! Told you it'd work!"  
  
"I seem to recall it being my suggestion," said Vincent, but the hint of a smile was on his lips.  
  
He boosted Cid up through the gap in the ceiling, then climbed up himself. They found themselves in the grounds just outside the Shinra mansion.  
  
"OK, now we just need to find out what £*$^ set off that explosion in the first pla - urk!!" Cid gasped as he was grabbed around the throat from behind.  
  
Vincent whirled round, his Death Penalty in his hands, to see Cid being lifted off the ground in the grip of a huge, silver- armoured man.  
  
"DROP YOUR WEAPON," the giant intoned in a deep, menacing voice.  
  
Vincent knew he had no choice. If he refused, the man could simply tighten his grip around Cid's neck and choke the pilot to death. Sighing deeply, he let the Death Penalty fall from his hands to the ground. 


	7. Enemy Thought Dead

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FF7 OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS  
  
  
  
Chapter Six  
  
  
  
"So what does this mean?" said Red. "I was under the impression that Hojo was no longer among the living."  
  
"I dunno," said Cloud. "He must have tricked us in some way. When I was in SOLDIER, everybody said Hojo was the most brilliant mind on the Planet - more so even than Professor Gast. He must have survived somehow."  
  
"So it's logical to assume he sent us the poisoned thorns," said Red. "And sent his soldiers here to do what exactly? To attack us?"  
  
"I don't know that either," said Cloud. "I'm going to contact Cid and Vincent, and see how they're getting on."  
  
He unclipped his PHS from his belt and called Cid's number.  
  
  
  
Vincent had made his mind up what to do even before Cid's PHS began buzzing. As the huge soldier was distracted by the sound, Vincent transformed into the Chaos beast and flung himself full force at the soldier. The giant was taken by surprise, and Cid was released from his grasp. Gasping for breath, the old pilot had enough presence of mind to raise the Venus Gospel and cast Ice3 on the group of normal guards approaching him at a run. A few yards away Chaos and the super-soldier were grappling together, though it soon became obvious the latter was winning.  
  
"Vincent! Get the ^£$& away from there!" Cid yelled. "I'm gonna summon the Highwind!"  
  
Punching the last but one soldier, and skewering the last with the spear, Cid waited until his friend had transformed back into his usual self and rolled to safety, before yelling, "HIGHWIND!!!"  
  
The huge airship's engines started and as its shadow fell over them, Cid and Vincent both dived for cover. The super-soldier, still a little disoriented after being slammed in the face by Chaos, could only look up and watch as the Highwind's missile batteries opened up. When the last rocket had hit, only a battered, twisted figure remained, swaying on the spot, the remains of its armour a blackened, melted mess. Vincent cocked the Death Penalty and fired, finishing off their enemy. Cid realised his PHS was still ringing. He switched it on, "Yeah?"  
  
"Cid? It's Cloud. How are things going your end?"  
  
"Seen better," Cid answered, passing the PHS to his left hand so he could light a cigarette with his right. "We just got attacked by some crazy buncha *£%&s."  
  
"Were there ten or so ordinary soldiers and one huge guy?" asked Cloud apprehensively.  
  
"Yeah, how'd you know?"  
  
"Same thing happened to us," said Cloud. "Have you found anything useful, antidote-wise?"  
  
"Nope. We were in the library when some dumb %£$* set off a bomb," Cid cursed. "It's all full of rock now, no way back in. You find anything?"  
  
"Red thinks he might be getting somewhere," said Cloud. "If you can't do anything more there, you'd better come and meet us here. I'll get in touch with Barret and find out how things are going over there. Get here as soon as you can, OK?"  
  
"Will do, chief."  
  
Cloud and Red went back up to the reading room, where Red sat down and continued to read as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Cloud stood by the window and sighed deeply, "I just can't concentrate, Red. I keep thinking about Tifa."  
  
"You have to do this, Cloud," said Red. "We can't afford to waste any time. Every moment counts. We have no idea if and when we will be attacked again."  
  
"I know, but I just can't think! My mind's too full right now!"  
  
"In that case, I suggest you stop talking and let me concentrate on my reading," said Red none too subtly.  
  
Cloud went through to the other room so he wasn't disturbing Red, and dialled Barret's number on the PHS. He hoped Barret wasn't worrying himself to the point of illness over Marlene's condition. Barret's devotion to the little girl often made Cloud wonder what it would be like to start a family of his own. Several times over the last few weeks he had been considering the possibility of proposing to Tifa, but he wasn't sure. . . did he really love her? Was it more than just coming together as a natural reaction to the danger they had been through? Cloud's thoughts were interrupted as he realised Barret wasn't answering the PHS. It had rung at least twelve times already. Maybe he was asleep, or in the bathroom. Or - or could it be something more sinister? He decided to call Yuffie, who should still have been at the hospital with Barret. After several rings, it became clear she wasn't picking up either. As a last resort he tried phoning Reeve. This time the PHS was answered after a single ring.  
  
"Reeve?" Cloud said, before the other man had a chance to speak. "Do you know where Barret is? I've tried calling him on the PHS and he doesn't - "  
  
"Oh, it's you," interrupted a weird-sounding voice that Cloud remembered all too well. "The failure."  
  
"Professor Hojo?!" Cloud gasped. "You're alive?"  
  
"Yes, of course I'm alive," Hojo snapped. "Do you think I would be stupid enough to allow myself to be killed by a failure like you?"  
  
"But - but how did you survive?"  
  
"Don't trouble me with pointless questions, you fool," snapped Hojo. "I am far too busy to waste time with you."  
  
"Busy with what? What have you done with Reeve?" Cloud demanded.  
  
"He has not been harmed. Yet," said Hojo. "Clearly, my attempts to kill you have not been successful. Hopefully next time I will have more success. Good day."  
  
Hojo hung up. Cloud ran through to the other room. Red looked up, startled at the door being slammed open so fast.  
  
"Problem?" he asked.  
  
Cloud ran his hand through his blond spikey hair, "Barret and Yuffie didn't answer their PHS. I tried calling Reeve, but Hojo - it was Hojo who answered."  
  
"So he is alive," said Red solemnly. "And presumably in Midgar."  
  
"How do you know that?"  
  
"He had Reeve's PHS, which is specially configured to work with the signal receiver station in Midgar," said Red.  
  
Cloud nodded, "I see. We have to get to Midgar as soon as Cid gets here with the Highwind!"  
  
"I really should stay here and keep reading," said Red. "We're trying to find an antidote for Tifa and Marlene, REMEMBER?"  
  
"I haven't forgotten," said Cloud. "We'll just have to take the books with us."  
  
"I can't just take them with me. They belong to the library," Red protested.  
  
"This is a matter of life and death!" Cloud argued. "Bend the rules for once!"  
  
"Very well," said Red. "But I do not think there will be much opportunity for reading when we get to Midgar."  
  
He went back to the books while Cloud hurried outside and down the stone steps to wait for the Highwind to arrive. After pacing back and forth impatiently for several minutes, he heard the familiar sound of its engines.  
  
"Red!!" he yelled in the direction of the reading room window. "Come on!!"  
  
Red came leaping down the steps with three or four books gripped carefully in his jaws. Cid brought the Highwind down over Cosmo Canyon and Vincent threw down the rope ladder. Cloud, carrying the books, made his way up, with Red following, climbing surprisingly easily for a four-legged creature. Cid put the engines up to full power and they were on their way to Midgar. Red stayed down on the observation deck, reading under the shade of a wing, while Cloud, Cid and Vincent conferred on the bridge.  
  
"What's the situation, Cloud?" asked Vincent.  
  
"Okay, here it is as far as I can work out," said Cloud. "Hojo sent each of us those poisoned barbs in the hope that they'd kill us, right? Well, he obviously found out that, apart from Tifa, nobody has been affected."  
  
"So he sent in those %£$&*£ soldiers," Cid put in.  
  
"Right," said Cloud. "He must still be growing them in the Nibel reactor. Shutting down that facility was supposed to be one of our priorities after destroying Meteor, but for one reason or another - mostly because we're busy helping out in Midgar - we haven't got around to it. Now, I just tried to call Barret and the others. I couldn't get an answer from him or Yuffie, so I don't know what's happened to them. But when I tried to call Reeve, Hojo answered."  
  
"Hojo?!?" Cid yelled.  
  
"Hojo. . ." Vincent said icily. "So my suspicion was correct. What does he want with us?"  
  
Cloud shrugged, "Revenge, I suppose. We destroyed Jenova and Sephiroth - his life's work."  
  
"Yeah, we also killed the dumb &%£$, don't forget," Cid added. "And how, if you two geniuses don't mind my asking, can he still be alive?!?"  
  
"I don't know," Cloud said. "He was a geneticist, remember. Maybe he managed to clone himself?"  
  
"That's impossible," said Vincent. "A clone would merely be a replica of his own physical form. It wouldn't have his personality, wishes or desires."  
  
"Well, I dunno, maybe he grew some life-form to be like him," Cloud shrugged. "Whatever, I know it couldn't have been Hojo we fought on top of the Sister Ray that day. Because that person died, and Hojo is still alive."  
  
"So what do we do?"  
  
"We're going to Midgar to see what's happened to Barret and the others, and see if we can't find Hojo while we're at it," said Cloud. "Red is on the deck with his grandfather's biology research books, trying to find the antidote we need. Vincent, you're probably the best one to help him there. Cid, you'll obviously be piloting the ship."  
  
"What are you gonna do?" asked Cid. "Sit on your ass and look good?"  
  
"No," said Cloud. "There's something - something I'm trying to remember - something Aeris once said to me."  
  
Both Cid and Vincent fell silent at the mention of Aeris. Neither of them was sure of Cloud's feelings for the dead Cetra. Neither of them felt comfortable talking about her with Cloud, for fear that they might accidentally upset him in some way.  
  
"Does it have to do with Hojo?" asked Vincent.  
  
"I'm not sure," said Cloud. "I just feel - I just know somehow - that it's relevant to this whole thing."  
  
"Maybe it has to do with an antidote," Cid suggested.  
  
"I was thinking that too," Cloud nodded. "Aeris was good with flowers. Nobody else ever managed to get any to grow in Midgar. If there IS a plant somewhere that can save Tifa, then Aeris would be the one to tell us. She'd speak with the Planet and it would tell her. If only Aeris were still alive - she'd be able to sort out this whole mess."  
  
The other two looked at the ground uncomfortably, not wanting to interrupt Cloud's train of thought. He had hardly spoken about Aeris since Meteor, and it was obvious to everyone how much he was keeping his feelings for her bottled up inside of him. Eventually none of them was willing to break the silence, so Vincent said, "I will go to help Red."  
  
Cid nodded, "I'll get back to - um - flyin' the ship."  
  
He turned round to the controls and pretended to be guiding the Highwind through a tricky patch of turbulence, leaving Cloud alone with his thoughts. The party leader took a couple of steps away from Cid, and stood deep in thought. What was it Aeris had told him? How did his subconscious know that it was somehow relevant? What was it?  
  
What?  
  
What?!?!?  
  
  
  
  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Aeris' message to Cloud isn't going to be anything that appears in the game, it will be something made up by myself. Please review this story, I need feedback to steer it in the right direction! I know where it is going eventually, but any suggestions to the route it should take would be very helpful! Thanks!! 


	8. Midgar Under Martial Law

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FF7 OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS  
  
  
  
Chapter Seven  
  
Cloud, Vincent and Red went down to the bottom deck, ready to disembark, as Cid piloted the ship over Junon, towards Midgar. Vincent, who had until now been silently brooding in the corner, suddenly jerked upright as if he had been stung, and yelled, "Take cover!"  
  
Cloud and Red looked at him, confused, "From what?"  
  
"I don't know," said Vincent, taking cover behind a heavy metal stanchion. "Chaos is warning me about something. Sometimes he can sense danger before it happens."  
  
The other two exchanged glances, wondering if Vincent had finally cracked. They decided, however, it was better to be safe than sorry, and ducked behind a heavy piece of machinery. Not a moment too soon either, as the ship was suddenly shaken by a series of violent crashes and explosions. From the flight deck they could distantly hear Cid yelling, "What the %&$£!?!?!?!?!"  
  
With a violent crash the metal pillar Vincent was sheltering behind was ripped loose from the ship and went tumbling over the side. There was an even bigger explosion and the ship began wobbling from side to side in an alarming manner. Cloud grabbed Red's front paw before the huge lion could be sent flying off the ship, hanging on to a metal strut with his other hand. Another heavy piece of metal was torn from its holdings, and only his inhuman reflexes allowed Vincent to roll to the side in time to avoid being crushed. Eventually the explosions decreased in number and finally died away, allowing the Highwind to continue its increasingly shaky progress towards Midgar. Unfortunately, just as the city could be seen on the horizon, there was another powerful explosion and the Highwind began nose-diving towards the ground.  
  
"CRASH POSITIONS!!!!!" Cid was heard to scream from the bridge.  
  
Cloud and the others braced themselves for impact as Cid tried to bring the ship on to a more even keel. He succeeded only partially, but did enough to turn the ship's near-vertical descent into a lazy kind of swallow dive before it hit the ground. The three on the lower deck were tossed about like rag- dolls by the bone-shuddering impact, somehow managing to avoid any serious injury before the ship scraped along the ground and came to a graceless halt. Vincent was on his feet first, brushing down his cloak and keeping his pain from showing on his face.  
  
"Everyone OK?" said Cloud, rubbing his shoulder from where he'd landed on it.  
  
Red nodded, "I think my bones are all intact. What happened?"  
  
"Not sure," said Cloud. "We'd better go up and ask Cid, he'd have had a better view. We might also have to stop him from killing himself over the damage to his ship."  
  
The staircase that led from the lower deck to the bridge was almost entirely blocked by fallen machinery and twisted metal, but they picked and fought their way through, and found Cid leaning over the ship's engine, swearing and cursing at the top of his voice and hitting various things with a heavy metal spanner.  
  
"Cid?" Cloud asked. "What's the damage?"  
  
"You guys are OK!" Cid exclaimed. "Thank God for that. As for the damage, near total, kid. This engine will never run again. The rest of the ship looks not too bad - just structural damage - but we won't be flying anywhere in this baby for a while. At least not until she gets a new engine."  
  
"What HAPPENED back there?" asked Red.  
  
Cid kicked the dead engine angrily, "It was just as we were flying over Junon. All their anti-aircraft guns began firing. We were pretty lucky to come out of it with as little damage as we've sustained."  
  
"But - but why would the Junon airbase want to attack us?" asked Cloud. "They're just a trading port now. They only kept the anti aircraft guns because demolishing them would have been too expensive."  
  
"I think I know why," said Red.  
  
"Hojo. . ." Vincent hissed.  
  
"I thought he was in Midgar," said Cid.  
  
"He must have sent some of his soldiers to Junon," said Cloud. "Knowing that it would be in our flight path from Cosmo Canyon. I wish now I'd never tried to call Reeve on the PHS. Because of that Hojo knew we were coming and he was ready for us."  
  
"What do we do now?" asked Vincent.  
  
"Well, I'm stayin' here to try and repair the ship," said Cid. "The back-up engine is old and slow but it might work for a few hours. I'm going to fix all the major systems that have been damaged, so I can at least take off again if I have to."  
  
"I too will stay here, and continue with my research," said Red.  
  
"Okay," said Cloud. "Vincent, I think you and I had better go and try to find Barret and/or Yuffie."  
  
"What about Hojo?" asked Vincent.  
  
"He'll be too well guarded for two of us to try and take on," said Cloud. "That's why I want to find the others first."  
  
"Right. Good luck," said Cid.  
  
He stood and surveyed his wrecked ship with a pained expression on his face, wondering where to begin his repairs, while Red ambled over to a quiet corner to continue his reading, and Cloud and Vincent left the ship to begin the long trek to Midgar, just visible in the distance.  
  
It took them several hours, interspersed by battles against various monsters, to reach the outskirts of Midgar. The huge gates that had once encircled the city were gone, torn down on Reeve's command, so the two of them were able to enter the city without difficulty.  
  
"We're in Sector 5," said Cloud. "The hospital where we left Tifa is in Sector 3. It shouldn't take us too long to get there."  
  
It didn't take them long to figure out that something was wrong in the streets of Midgar. The eerie silence of the empty streets, and the sound of doors and windows being slammed shut and locked as they walked past, were beginning to make them edgy. Well, Cloud anyway. Vincent seemed to be his usual impassive self, glancing about with emotionlessness bordering on indifference. It wasn't until they reached the outskirts of Sector 5, having made their way through streets and shopping malls that were totally silent and deserted, that they saw some signs of life. Unfortunately, it wasn't friendly. The six ordinary human soldiers in the by-now familiar silver uniform appeared to be on some sort of patrol route, circling a small area of the city, looking about intently and keeping their guns cocked and ready to fire.  
  
"I wonder what they're doing," said Cloud.  
  
"They seem to be searching for somebody," said Vincent. "Cloud, this is worrying. It appears Hojo's men have taken over the whole city, or at least Sector 5. We don't know how powerful he is, how many troops he has, how well trained they are. . .I could go on."  
  
"You're right, but we do know one thing," Cloud said.  
  
"And that is?"  
  
"He's trying to kill us and our friends. That means we have to stop him, whatever it takes."  
  
"I don't think the two of us alone. . ."  
  
"I know!" Cloud replied. "That's why we're here, we're trying to find Barret and Yuffie. With four of us we might be able to rescue Tifa and Reeve and get them back to the Highwind."  
  
"And then what?" asked Vincent morosely. "You know it can't fly any more."  
  
"Well, hopefully Cid can repair it sufficiently that we can get to a safe haven somewhere," said Cloud.  
  
"Like where? Hojo has sent men to Cosmo Canyon, Nibelheim, Junon and Midgar that we know of. Who's to say he hasn't got troops taking over everywhere?"  
  
"I'm sure Fort Condor and Wutai will still be safe," said Cloud. "They'll fight to the last. Either of those places will welcome us. If not - well, there's always Round Island. Nobody apart from us even knows it exists."  
  
"True, but we can't survive for long there," said Vincent. "And Tifa and Marlene will die soon."  
  
"You think I don't know that?" asked Cloud sharply. "Honestly, you're so depressing to be around sometimes. We've been taken by surprise so it will take some time to formulate a good plan. Right now our priority is to find the others."  
  
"I fail to see how we can stop Hojo."  
  
"Well, I know one thing that's in our favour," said Cloud. "Brilliant as his mind undoubtedly is, Hojo is no military strategist. His way of winning a fight is simply to throw in as many troops as possible. That could work to our advantage if we plan cleverly enough. Hey, it will be just like the old days when we were in AVALANCHE!"  
  
"I was never really in AVALANCHE," said Vincent, then shrugged. "Very well. Although suggesting we could win this defies all logic, I'll go along with it because we simply don't have any other options. We can't surrender because Hojo would just have us killed. We could hide but he'd find us eventually. We have to fight!"  
  
"That's the spirit!" Cloud agreed. "All right, first thing to do is to find out what these guys are so interested in."  
  
They crept forward, keeping to the meagre cover provided by parked cars and low walls, steadily approaching the patrol route of the six soldiers.  
  
"I see someone!" one of the grunts suddenly yelled.  
  
Cloud and Vincent instantly dropped to the ground and grabbed their weapons, thinking they had been spotted. However there was no sudden rush of footsteps or firing of weapons in their direction. They slowly raised themselves to a kneeling position and peered over the low brick wall in front of them. A man, dressed in civilian clothes, was fleeing from behind the cover of a dumpster, firing a handgun at the soldiers.  
  
"He's armed!" one of them shouted. "Drop him!"  
  
The six soldiers raised their weapons and fired. The man, hit by at least three bullets, was spun around on the spot and collapsed in the middle of the road, a pool of blood slowly spreading on to the tarmac. The soldiers surrounded his corpse and began searching him.  
  
"Here's his ID card, sir," one of them said, handing something to the soldier who appeared to be in charge.  
  
"All right," said the senior grunt. "Find his house and kill his family."  
  
The other soldiers looked up, "Sir?!"  
  
"Professor Hojo's orders!" the senior grunt snapped. "You know he won't tolerate anyone rebelling against him! Now move out!"  
  
The grunts grumbled amongst themselves and began approaching a small, red-brick house with a nicely-tended garden in front. Cloud felt Vincent stir beside him.  
  
"More innocents," the raven-haired man muttered so low Cloud couldn't make him out.  
  
"What did you say?" Cloud asked, but Vincent had already got to his feet and was cocking the Death Penalty.  
  
"I'll draw their fire," said Vincent. "You run around and attack from behind that tree over there."  
  
Cloud hurried off as the six soldiers were nearly at the house. Vincent's first shot took out the senior grunt, sending him flying into two of the others. The remaining three whirled round in surprise, frantically looking around to see who had fired. Vincent had ducked back behind the wall and they couldn't see him. With the senior grunt dead, one of the others took over.  
  
"You two, search to the left. You two to the right. I'll cover you," were his orders. "It's probably just another civilian. A civilian who's a good shot though, so be careful!"  
  
Splitting up made them harder for Vincent to hit, but he was an expert marksman so it wasn't that much of a problem. Reappearing over the top of the wall, he fired at the second-in-command soldier, hitting him squarely in the chest, killing him instantly. Take out the leader and the rest would falter. It was a good tactic, Vincent knew. During the Meteor crisis, his party had very nearly lost its way when Cloud was taken from them. Fortunately Tifa and then Cid had been able to take over on a temporary basis and keep things going. None of the remaining four silver grunts appeared to have the desire or ability to take over as leader, and they began to panic. Two ducked behind a van, and the other two settled for running away. Unfortunately for them, they found themselves running straight towards Cloud's hiding place. He emerged swinging Ultima Weapon, dispatching them immediately. The remaining two grunts, caught between two foes, lost their heads and charged towards where Vincent was hurriedly reloading his Death Penalty. He shot one and ducked behind the wall to avoid weapon fire from the other. A swishing sound and a meaty thunk told him Cloud had taken out the last enemy. Wiping sweat from their faces, the two of them walked towards each other and Cloud said, "Good shooting. That wasn't so hard."  
  
"It will get harder. Especially if we meet any of those genetically modified super soldiers."  
  
They searched the bodies of the grunts, finding nothing of value save for a keycard pass in the inside pocket of the senior grunt.  
  
"This might be useful," said Cloud. "It'll give us access to wherever they report to after 'work'. It might enable us to get closer to Hojo."  
  
"Hojo. . ." Vincent growled.  
  
"Anyway, we'd better move," Cloud decided. "When this motley crew doesn't report back to base, there'll be somebody - more likely quite a lot of somebodies - sent to find out why."  
  
They hurried away from the scene, making their way in the direction of Sector 3 once more. It was when they began walking in the darkness below the remains of the plate above Sector 4 that Vincent started to get uneasy. He twitched and fidgeted in a most uncharacteristic manner.  
  
"What's up?" asked Cloud eventually.  
  
"I sense an attack is imminent," said Vincent. "Well, I don't, Chaos does. Can I suggest we take cover?"  
  
Cloud decided to trust his friend's premonition, and they hid behind some shrubs. Since the end of Shinra Inc. and the destruction of the Mako reactors, plants and flowers had begun growing again in Midgar. The Spirit energy that had for so long been sucked up to sate the Shinras' lust for power was now being used for its intended purpose: the nurturing of life. Before long Vincent's prediction was shown to be correct, as a squad of fifty or more soldiers were seen marching up the road.  
  
"Halt!" their leader yelled.  
  
They stopped.  
  
"Private 3452, why do you keep straying out of formation?!" the leader demanded.  
  
"It's the prisoners, sir," a man in the back replied nervously. "They keep crowding me."  
  
"Lemme go, you buncha Shinra-lovin' jackasses!!" yelled a familiar voice.  
  
The other soldiers stepped aside so that their commander could get through. Cloud and Vincent got their first view of the prisoners.  
  
Barret and Yuffie, struggling furiously with their arms tied behind their backs, had been captured by Hojo's men. 


	9. The Flower of Vengeance

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FF7 OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS  
  
  
  
Chapter Eight  
  
Cloud and Vincent watched from behind the shrubbery as Barret and Yuffie were forced to march along the road with the squad of Hojo's soldiers.  
  
"Shouldn't we do something?" Vincent whispered.  
  
"It's too risky," said Cloud. "There are far too many of them."  
  
"We have to do something."  
  
Cloud nodded, "Yeah, I know. We'll follow them - they'll put Barret and Yuffie into custody somewhere - then we can break 'em out."  
  
"I wonder what's happened to Tifa," said Vincent. "After all, Barret was supposed to be watching over her."  
  
"Well, hopefully she's still at the hospital and Hojo hasn't found her," said Cloud. "I'd hate to think what might happen if he did. It doesn't really matter where she is, as long as she's not coming to any harm."  
  
The soldiers had by now marched out of sight down the road. Cloud and Vincent rose from their hiding place and went after them. Vincent was able to use Chaos' animal senses to track Barret's scent, so they could remain at a distance and be in no danger of being spotted. They followed the soldiers for two or three miles until Cloud realised they were heading for the Shinra building. They stayed at a safe distance to watch their friends being led into the giant monolithic structure.  
  
"The Shinra building must be what Hojo is using as his HQ," said Cloud.  
  
"I thought the Turks were running the Midgar police force from the Shinra building," said Vincent.  
  
"They were. Obviously now they're not."  
  
"I wonder what Hojo has done with them."  
  
"Dunno," said Cloud. "OK, I see the soldiers entering the building."  
  
"They're taking the executive elevator up to one of the top floors," said Vincent, who possessed better eyesight. "They must be going to the confinement rooms up there."  
  
"Yeah. How'd you know about those?"  
  
"I was a Turk once, remember," said Vincent. "The Shinra building hasn't changed much over the years."  
  
Cloud shrugged. Nobody was exactly sure how long it was since Vincent's 'transformation' at the hands of Hojo. He'd never volunteered the information, and if anyone asked him about it he'd become mysteriously deaf or discover a sudden need to be elsewhere. Reaching inside his tunic pocket, Cloud produced the keycard they'd taken from a dead officer, and took a closer look.  
  
"I wonder why I didn't recognise this earlier," he said. "It's a Keycard 67. That will gain us access to the level with the confinement rooms."  
  
"I suggest we hurry," Vincent urged. "We do not know what Hojo has in store for our friends."  
  
"Right!" said Cloud. "I don't see anyone on guard at the front entrance. That'll be Hojo's overconfidence coming into play again. Keep your eyes open and let's go!"  
  
Keeping low, they hurried towards the front entrance.  
  
"Shouldn't we go in the side door to lessen the chance of being discovered?" asked Vincent.  
  
"Not if we want to use the elevator," Cloud pointed out.  
  
He led the way inside the front of the building. Thankfully nobody was inside the lobby except for a frightened-looking receptionist. Vincent cast Sleepel on her before she could call security. Cloud stepped over to the elevators and found one which wasn't currently in use. They got in, and Cloud punched the button for the 67th floor. The ride up was as fast and smooth as it had been the last time he'd used these elevators, only about a month ago when rescuing Aeris from the hands of the Shinra and from Hojo's sadistic experiments. Aeris. . .Hojo. . .it was weird how those two names kept cropping up everywhere in his life, not matter what he did or what was on his mind. Then again it wasn't all that surprising. Both the beautiful Cetra who had sacrificed herself, and the malevolent, supremely ambitious scientist had had a huge part to play in the whole Meteor saga and the struggle for the life of the entire Planet. One of them was alive now, and the other was dead. How Cloud wished it could have been the other way around! They'd all thought that with the destruction of Meteor, life would return to normal (or as normal as it could be when you counted among your best friends people like Cid and Yuffie!) and they wouldn't have to fight for the Planet any more. They'd thought the crisis for the Planet, Hojo's legacy, was over. They had been mistaken. It wouldn't be over until Hojo was dead. How he had survived, Cloud wasn't sure, but it didn't matter right now. After the battle atop the Sister Ray, Hojo must have gone underground to lick his wounds, perhaps hoping that Sephiroth would destroy Cloud's party for him. Seeing that Sephiroth had failed, Hojo must have gone back to the Nibel reactor to make new plans. While Cloud and the others had been sitting around thinking all danger had passed, Hojo had been hard at work on the creation of his super soldiers, and had found time to send them poisonous flowers in the post. But why had he done that when he could just have sent the soldiers in anyway?  
  
"Vincent?" said Cloud, breaking the silence as the elevator continued its steady progress up the building. "If Hojo has this vast army at his disposal, why did he even bother sending us those poisoned plants?"  
  
Vincent didn't respond and Cloud thought he maybe hadn't heard him. Then Vincent shrugged, "I do not know. Perhaps he lacked confidence in his troops' ability, and decided to try and get us out the way first, knowing we would be a powerful adversary."  
  
"So in other words he was just taking out some insurance," Cloud paraphrased.  
  
"If you want to put it like that, yes," Vincent agreed. "He must have known some of us wouldn't be affected, but he knew we'd be kept busy trying to find a cure for those that WERE poisoned."  
  
"Yeah," said Cloud. "I kinda feel guilty, you know, not helping Red with the antidote research. I should be doing everything I can to help Tifa."  
  
"You are," said Vincent. "If we devote all our energies to finding an antidote, it will be useless if Hojo is not deposed from power. He could simply have us killed the moment we brought Tifa back."  
  
"I guess you're right," said Cloud. "I'll give Red a call and see how he's doing."  
  
He dialled Red's number on the PHS and waited till the lion answered.  
  
"Red? It's Cloud. How are you getting on with the books? How's Cid?"  
  
"Cid is extremely agitated about the condition of his ship," Red replied. "So much so that I have taken the books and moved to a nearby field to continue my studies without distraction."  
  
"Have you found out anything?" asked Cloud, hoping against hope that Red was getting somewhere.  
  
"I believe I am making progress," said Red. "I'm 95% sure I've identified the plant used to poison Tifa."  
  
"Excellent!" Cloud exclaimed. "Which plant?"  
  
"It has a long Latin name that wouldn't mean anything to you," said Red. "It is found only in the Nibel mountains and is known colloquially as 'the flower of vengeance', as it has often been used to poison unfaithful marriage partners. It grows up to nine inches in height and sprouts purple flowers when fully developed. It survives best at temperatures between - "  
  
"Okay, spare me the botany lesson," said Cloud. "What about an antidote?"  
  
"I need to be 100% sure this is the right plant before I try to find its antithesis," Red informed him. "I'll get back to you."  
  
"OK," Cloud agreed. "We're at the Shinra building. Hojo has taken over Midgar and captured Barret and Yuffie. We're trying to rescue them. Hang on, we've just reached the 67th floor. I'd better go."  
  
"Good luck."  
  
They both hung up and Cloud unsheathed Ultima Weapon as the lift doors opened. He used the Keycard 67 to gain access to the floor. The corridor beyond was devoid of people, save for two guards standing lazily against the wall with their backs to the two heroes. It appeared security up here was just as lax as down below. Neither guard knew what had hit him as Cloud struck with his huge sword.  
  
"Okay, the confinement chambers are along here," said Cloud.  
  
"I know. You go ahead and I'll cover you."  
  
They made their way down the corridor cautiously, their muscles taut and their nerves on end, prepared to face an attack from any direction. What neither of them noticed was the security camera up on the ceiling, partially concealed by an overhead fan, recording their every move.  
  
"Professor Hojo, sir!" the guard said, saluting smartly.  
  
Hojo looked up irritably from his pile of lab reports, "What do you want?! I'm a busy man!"  
  
"Sir, Scout Team 713 has not reported back," the man announced, then swallowed nervously and added. "And Cloud Strife and Vincent Valentine have been sighted."  
  
"Where?!" Hojo snapped, turning in his seat to give the man his full attention.  
  
"In Sector 4 an hour ago, and - and on the 67th floor of this building five minutes ago," the man quavered.  
  
"WHAT?!?!" Hojo exploded. "How did they manage to get in here? Where is my security? You fools! Where are they now?"  
  
"They were last seen heading for the confinement rooms where their friends are being held," said the guard.  
  
"Ha, ha, ha," Hojo laughed. "That's a dead end! All right, get down there with a security detachment and trap them! I want them alive for now, so don't kill them, or I will kill you."  
  
"Yes sir!!" the guard saluted and left the room as fast as his legs would carry him.  
  
There was one soldier on guard at the confinement area when Cloud and Vincent got there. He was slightly more alert than the previous two and managed to put up a decent fight. Cloud parried his attack and Vincent shot him with the Death Penalty. On searching his body, they found a set of keys.  
  
"Those will open the cells," said Cloud. "Come on, we've got to hurry."  
  
They unlocked the cell nearest to them. It was empty. Trying the next one, they were relieved to find their friends inside, asleep and apparently unhurt. Yuffie lay sleeping on the room's only bed, while Barret was lying on the floor.  
  
"Hey, guys," said Cloud, shaking Yuffie's shoulder while Vincent prodded Barret with his foot. "We're getting out of here. Yuffie? Yuffie, WAKE UP!!"  
  
"Barret, can you hear me?" Vincent asked, kneeling down to speak in the big man's ear. "It's no good. Cloud, I think they have been drugged."  
  
"Drugged?" Cloud repeated. "All right, we'll have to carry them. With any luck they'll wake up soon. Can you manage Barret?"  
  
Vincent nodded. He crouched down and slung Barret's huge figure around his shoulders, grimacing only slightly as he straightened up once more. Cloud easily carried Yuffie's petite form with one arm, holding his sword in his other hand in case they were attacked. They left the cell and began making their way down the corridor, too slowly for Vincent's liking. He was starting to get that uneasy feeling again that meant an attack was near.  
  
"Stop where you are!" a voice suddenly demanded. "Surrender and you will not be harmed!"  
  
Cloud and Vincent looked up in dismay as the corridor ahead of them filled with silver-armoured grunts. In the confined space there was nowhere to run to, and they couldn't fight with their arms full of unconscious team-mates. Nor would it be fair to risk Barret and Yuffie's lives by taking on the soldiers. Both of them sighed, and Cloud dropped Ultima Weapon to the floor, "We surrender." The soldiers surrounded them, one of them picking up the Ultima sword and running a trembling hand over the top of its ethereal blade, touching the tip with his finger to see if it was as sharp as rumour reported. A trickle of blood soon told him it was.  
  
"What are you going to do with us?" asked Cloud, as two soldiers tied his hands.  
  
"That's for the Professor to decide," replied one of the grunts.  
  
"The Professor's insane, you know," Cloud told him. "He'd kill you and your children if it suited his research purposes."  
  
"I know," the man shrugged. "Everyone knows he's nuts. But he pays well, and I need the money."  
  
He fell silent, as did the other soldiers, as Hojo appeared from around the corner.  
  
"Ah - the failure," said Hojo, glaring at Cloud. "Why do you have to pop up everywhere I go, reminding me of the mistakes I made?"  
  
He turned to Vincent, who stood with his arms tied, barely controlled fury etched all over his normally impassive features. Hojo sneered, "And of course, Valentine, my rival from the very beginning. You just won't die, will you? To stay alive and be constantly reminded of what I did to you and your love, that is your sentence. Fitting, I thought at the time."  
  
Hojo cackled, "So how is she? Lucrecia? I haven't seen her for - "  
  
He was cut off as Vincent, enraged beyond control at the mention of his true love, snapped the bonds around his wrists with his enormous strength, and lunged towards Hojo, his hands outstretched to throttle the man's neck. Before he could get there though, six guards descended on Vincent and forced him to the ground, pummelling him with blows.  
  
"Enough!" Hojo snapped, shooing the guards away from Vincent's unconscious form. "Take them back to the cells. We will begin experimentation when the plant samples arrive."  
  
Cloud gulped. Experimentation? What experiments did Hojo have in mind? The crazy scientist was cackling to himself in a way that did not fill Cloud with optimistic thoughts regarding his immediate future. His last memory was of Hojo's infuriating laugh, before one of the soldiers hit him over the head and Cloud fell to the ground unconscious. 


	10. Unexpected Rescue

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FF7 OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS  
  
  
  
Chapter Nine  
  
Cloud awoke with a headache from where he'd been struck on his temple. He found himself face-down on a cold floor. Willing his exhausted, reluctant muscles to move, he rolled over and got into a sitting position. He was in one of the confinement cells on the 67th floor. Yuffie was lying on the bed, either asleep or still under the effects of the drug. Cloud reached out with his foot to kick the side of the bed, hoping to jolt her awake. It succeeded. Yuffie's eyes snapped open and focussed on Cloud.  
  
"Cloud!" she exclaimed, a bright red colour coming to her cheeks for some reason. "What are you doing here? Heh - where are we?"  
  
Cloud really couldn't be bothered answering. He just wanted to go to bed and sleep for a week, but he forced himself to reply to the young ninja's question, "We're in the Shinra building, Yuffie, in the prison cells on the 67th floor."  
  
"They captured you too, huh? Where's Vinnie?"  
  
"If you mean Vincent, he's here too," said Cloud. "He and I were trying to get you and Barret out of here, but Hojo caught us."  
  
"That's the part I don't get!" Yuffie complained. "Isn't Hojo like, dead?"  
  
"We thought so. Evidently we were wrong."  
  
"Yeah, well, whatever. Where's Tifa?"  
  
Cloud frowned, "How am I supposed to know? You and Barret were meant to be staying with her."  
  
"When the troops showed up, we took Tifa and Marlene to the old underground hideout at the Seventh Heaven," said Yuffie. "It wasn't completely destroyed when the Plate fell, remember? They're probably still there."  
  
"As long as Hojo doesn't find them, that's as good a place as any," said Cloud.  
  
"Yeah, I guess. When are we gonna get out of here?" asked the girl, stretching her arms restlessly. "I wanna kick some Hojo butt!"  
  
Cloud shrugged, "These rooms are inescapable from the inside."  
  
"Come on, leader man!" she cajoled. "You're always supposed to have a plan up your sleeve. What we gonna do?"  
  
"My PHS has been taken from me," Cloud realised. "Do you still have yours?"  
  
"Yup," said Yuffie. "Hid it in one of my pockets. Who shall I call?"  
  
"Call Red or Cid. They're near Midgar, trying to fix the Highwind," he said. "Tell them to get here as soon as they can."  
  
Yuffie called Cid's number and held the PHS to her ear. A frown crossed her face, "This piece of junk's not working! I'm not getting a signal!"  
  
"These walls must be designed to block any kind of communication equipment," Cloud said.  
  
"Oh, really, ya think?" she retorted sarcastically.  
  
"Yuffie - that kind of attitude doesn't help," he sighed.  
  
"Hey, leave it out, you're not my dad!" she complained. "Then again, he'd just tell me to be quiet and leave him in peace. Anything would be an improvement on that."  
  
She fell into an unhappy silence and Cloud sat on the bed beside her. He had to formulate a plan. He had to think of a way out of there before it was too late. Hmm. . .if they took apart Yuffie's PHS, could they wire up the components in some way as to manually override the electronic door lock and get out? Maybe. . .if Cid or somebody else who knew electronics was here, but Cloud could barely wire a plug, and Yuffie's knowledge of electronics covered which buttons to press to turn on her electric blanket or shower. The situation seemed hopeless. . . Just as Cloud allowed negativity to spread over him like a blanket, there came an odd tapping sound on the door. He frowned. The sound repeated itself. Somebody must be outside. Was it one of the guards, knocking on the door to annoy the prisoners, to relieve his own boredom?  
  
"Can you hear me?" came a muffled voice from outside.  
  
"Yeah!" Cloud shouted back.  
  
"Get to the other side of the room."  
  
"Huh? Why?"  
  
"Don't argue with me, dammit, just do it!"  
  
The voice had an impatient, lazy tone that Cloud thought he recognised. Who could it be? It wasn't Cid or Red, and nobody else knew where they were. He grabbed Yuffie's arm and the two of them retreated to the other side of the room. They heard a beeping sound like a countdown and then. . . . . .the door exploded inwards. Shards and splinters went flying. Yuffie squealed in surprise and Cloud threw himself over her to protect her from the hail of shrapnel. It subsided and both of them looked up to see what had happened. Three people stood in the doorway, their faces obscured by the smoke from the explosion.  
  
"Hang on," came a female voice. "Aren't they the enemy? Aren't we supposed to be fighting them?"  
  
"Elena," a male voice sighed. "You talk too much."  
  
Reno of the Turks walked into the room, his Electro Rod held carelessly at his side, and nodded to Cloud, saying sarcastically, "Hello, Cloud. Nice place you got here. You should invite us round sometime."  
  
"Turks?" said Yuffie uncertainly. "Cloud, aren't they the enemy?"  
  
"I'm not sure," said Cloud. "Reno, why are you rescuing us? Assuming that's what you're doing?"  
  
"Not exactly. Rude and I found a batch of C4 and we decided it might be fun to try them out on some high security doors - " Reno began, when Elena kicked him in the shin.  
  
"Grow up!" she exclaimed. "Tell them the truth."  
  
"Oh, all right," Reno grumbled. "We were watching on the security monitors and we saw you being taken down here. The general consensus of opinion was that we should come down and get you out. You could say that since you destroyed Meteor, we owed you a favour. Or you could say we're just nice, charitable, helpful, citizens."  
  
"Don't you work for the Shinra?" asked Yuffie, eyeing him suspiciously. "How do we know this isn't a trap and you're not going to turn us over to Hojo at any minute?"  
  
"Dear girl, the Shinra no longer exist," Reno sighed in a world- weary way. "Even though we worked for the same company, Hojo and I have had our - differences. Our only loyalty now is to the Midgar police force, which we happen to be the leaders of. Our only duty is the safety of the Midgar population. Besides, why would we bother handing you over to Hojo when you're already in his cells? Of course, if you'd prefer to STAY here. . ."  
  
"No, no, just asking," said Yuffie quickly, getting to her feet and hurrying to the door.  
  
Rude stood outside in the corridor on guard.  
  
"Hey, Baldy!" Yuffie giggled cheekily.  
  
". . ." the stoic man replied. "Tell Reno to hurry."  
  
"Reno, Baldy says hurry up!" Yuffie yelled back into the cell.  
  
Cloud and Reno emerged from the cell together, neither one totally comfortable in the other's presence, yet for the moment united against a common enemy. Another explosion went off, and they turned to see Elena pushing her way through the rubble into the adjacent cell. Soon she appeared with Barret and Vincent close behind.  
  
"Yo, Cloud!" Barret yelled. "What's goin' on? Why we bein' rescued by the Shinra?"  
  
"They're not Shinra any more," said Cloud. "We really don't have time to explain, but I think we can trust them. They rescued us anyway, and we have to thank them for that."  
  
"Oh stop it, Cloud, you're making me blush," said Reno.  
  
Cloud ignored him, "I suggest we get back to the Highwind pronto, picking up Tifa and Marlene on the way, then plan our next move."  
  
"The Highwind?" said Reno. "Oh, that's the name of that rust bucket you guys cruise around in, isn't it?"  
  
"A word of advice," said Vincent to the Turk leader. "Never describe the Highwind as a 'rust bucket' when Cid is around."  
  
"Why, what's he going to do, throw his false teeth at me?" Reno leered.  
  
Yuffie giggled. Rude sighed, looking restless, "We should move on."  
  
"Right," Cloud said. "We'll take the express elevator down, and then work our way to Sector 7 to where the Seventh Heaven used to be. There are seven of us now, so we should be able to fight off any soldiers we come across. Now move out!"  
  
Reno rolled his eyes, "That's not how you say it!"  
  
They hurried away from the prison section and to the elevators. Luckily there were no guards in sight, and they took the elevator down to the ground floor.  
  
"Why are we going to the Seventh Heaven?" asked Elena.  
  
"That's where Tifa is," said Cloud. "She's been poisoned by Hojo. It's a long story."  
  
Rude turned to Reno and said, "Those letters?"  
  
Reno nodded, "Probably."  
  
"Wait a minute," said Cloud. "Are you saying you got anonymous letters from Hojo too?"  
  
"Yeah," said Elena. "I thought mine was from Reno, trying to play a trick on me, so I just threw it away."  
  
"So did I," said Rude.  
  
Reno grinned, "Well, I knew mine wasn't from me. I've yet to get drunk enough to actually mail things to myself. As a policeman I generally don't open anonymous mail. It's too risky. I forwarded it to Elena."  
  
"That explains why I got another one the next day," she said, glaring at him.  
  
They got to the bottom floor and hurried out of the Shinra building. Two or three soldiers gave chase, but soon ran for cover when Vincent turned to fire the Death Penalty. The seven of them jogged along the road in the direction of Sector 7. If the alert hadn't been sounded, it soon would be.  
  
"What does Hojo want with us?" asked Cloud as they were running down the road. "I heard him say something about 'experimentation' just before they knocked me out and threw me in that cell."  
  
"Dunno," said Reno. "I do know he's obsessed with breeding The Perfect Soldier, so that probably has something to do with it."  
  
"There is nothing Hojo can do to me that will be any worse than what he has already done," said Vincent.  
  
"He could kill ya," Barret suggested.  
  
"Technically he already has, as I am no longer truly alive," Vincent said.  
  
"Hojo's a seriously whacked-out old loony!" Yuffie exclaimed. "Even worse than my dad, and that's saying something."  
  
Cloud addressed the Turks, "What do you guys know about these new super- soldiers of Hojo's?"  
  
"More dangerous than Rude with a hangover," said Reno flippantly. "Seriously though, I think he ships them in from some overseas growing facility. Don't know exactly where it is - probably an old Mako reactor."  
  
"We think it's the one in Nibelheim," said Cloud.  
  
"I know that these genetically modified soldiers don't have fully developed brains," said Elena. "I don't mean they're dumb, they can still use tactics and outsmart you. What I mean is they don't have any real decision-making abilities. Hojo needs to keep a direct psychic link of some kind to control them. I guess he engineered them that way so they couldn't turn on him."  
  
"How do you know all that?" asked Reno.  
  
Elena glared at him, "Unlike you two, I don't spend all my spare time getting wasted in some pub."  
  
"A psychic link to the soldiers?" Cloud asked, trying to get Elena's attention.  
  
"What do you mean, ALL our spare time?" Reno interrupted him.  
  
"Come on, you and Rude are never out of that place in Sector 2!" she accused.  
  
"'Never out'?" he laughed. "We're not in there just now, are we?"  
  
"Could you two stop it for ten seconds!" Cloud yelled. "Now, Elena, what were you saying about a psychic link?"  
  
"Oh," she blushed, embarrassed at the sudden attention Cloud was showing her. "I don't know that much about it. I read it in some old lab reports of Hojo's that we unearthed while cleaning out the Shinra building to use as our HQ. Hojo has some kind of transmitter implanted in his brain that allows him to control the super soldiers."  
  
"Transmitter?" said Vincent. "If we can shut it down somehow. . ."  
  
"Right," said Barret. "He won' be able to use those damn silver giants any more!"  
  
"Shutting it down won't be easy though," Elena said. "Unless you plan on physically removing it from his head, we'd have to know the exact frequency at which it operates in order to disrupt the signal."  
  
"That's your ten seconds up," said Reno, checking his watch. "Can we start arguing again?"  
  
". . .shut up," said Rude, moving to hit Reno over the head.  
  
"All right, all right," Reno grumbled, after ducking to avoid the blow. "Sheesh, doesn't anyone have a sense of humour around here?"  
  
"We're at Sector 7," said Vincent, as they passed under an old ruined arch with the words 'Sector 7' still visible overhead.  
  
"Right," said Cloud. "There's the Seventh Heaven, or what's left of it. Here's what we'll do. Barret, Vincent, Yuffie, Elena, you all have long range weaponry so you stay outside on guard. Reno, Rude, you come inside with me and we'll get them out."  
  
He led the two senior Turks into the ruined bar, and pressed the button that activated the secret elevator next to the pinball machine.  
  
". . .!" said Rude.  
  
"So THAT'S where you were hiding from us all that time," said Reno. "I must have drunk in this bar a million times and I never even suspected."  
  
They took the elevator down. Cloud panicked at first when he couldn't see anyone in the room below, but then he saw Tifa and Marlene lying in the corner of the room, covered by blankets to keep them warm. He walked over. Tifa looked twice as pale and sickly as when he'd last seen her. The sight of her in this condition strengthened his resolve to keep going, to find an antidote and defeat Hojo at all costs.  
  
"Okay," he said. "Rude, we're probably the strongest, so we'll take Tifa. Reno, you can carry Marlene."  
  
For once Reno had no sarcastic remark to make. The sight of the two extremely ill patients seemed to have had an effect on him, and he picked up the little girl gently, cradling her in his arms.  
  
"I - I wonder what it would be like to have a child of my own," he said softly, brushing Marlene's hair from in front of her eyes.  
  
He walked over to the elevator and waited for the other two. Rude whispered to Cloud, "That's the most serious I've ever seen him get. He must be upset."  
  
"Of course he is," said Cloud. "I am. Aren't you?"  
  
". . ." said the bald Turk. "I don't really do emotions, sorry."  
  
They picked up Tifa and carried her to the elevator, going back up to the bar. The four in the street outside looked over as they emerged from the building. Barret ran over to take Marlene, while Vincent produced a stretcher he'd found in the nearby Item Shop. They lay Tifa down on this, and Cloud and Rude began carrying her.  
  
"Where now?" said Barret.  
  
"Out of Midgar as quickly as possible, and back to the Highwind," said Cloud.  
  
Unfortunately during the time it had taken them to get to Sector 7 to rescue the girls, Hojo's soldiers had managed to catch up with them. Reno, Elena, Vincent and Yuffie, as the only ones not encumbered by carrying a sick person, formed a protective barrier in front of the others. The first soldiers attacked as they reached the old train station. There had to be ten or so, soon reduced to eight as Vincent took out two with an excellent long-range shot. Elena flung a grenade at the remaining bunch, killing two, and Yuffie finished off a third with her shuriken. The surviving three came charging forward, but Reno dispatched them with the Electro Rod.  
  
"Piece of cake," said Reno, calmly slotting his Rod back into its holder attached to his side.  
  
They hurried onwards, and had reached the outskirts of the city when their path was blocked by not two, but THREE of the eight-foot-tall genetic super soldiers.  
  
"Oh &%*$," said Reno. "Cloud, Rude, stay back and take cover!"  
  
"DROP YOUR WEAPONS," the lead soldier intoned. "YOU WILL BE TREATED AS PRISONERS IF YOU SURRENDER NOW."  
  
"You wish!" Yuffie exclaimed, throwing her Conformer with all her strength at the lead soldier.  
  
It bounced off his armour and fell to the ground, not arcing back as Yuffie had intended.  
  
"Oh *£$&," she groaned, now unarmed.  
  
Vincent shot the lead soldier with the Death Penalty, knocking him off balance. Elena primed and threw two grenades, knocking all three soldiers backwards but failing to harm them in any way. From a grounded position, they fired at her. Reno tackled Elena to the ground, taking her out of the line of fire. Vincent reloaded and fired once more, but the soldiers got to their feet undamaged. They began to stride forward ominously, firing their weapons, forcing Vincent to backflip over a wall to avoid being hit. Yuffie scurried to join him. Barret carefully shifted Marlene into his human arm, and began firing with his Missing Score. The steady stream of bullets kept one of the soldiers off balance, but the other two continued their slow, steady progress forward. Reno and Elena ran back to join the others under cover.  
  
"What are we gonna do?" screamed Yuffie. "They aren't taking any damage!"  
  
"Limit Breaks work best," said Cloud. "We need to use our Limit Breaks!"  
  
He left the stretcher with Rude and leapt forward to use OmniSlash. The awesome power of his Limit Break was too much for the armour of the first soldier, slicing cleanly through, killing the creature inside. Now only two remained, but Cloud's Limit Gauge was empty.  
  
"Somebody else use a Limit Break!" he urged. "Quickly!"  
  
Reno took the initiative, attacking the second soldier with his Level 4 Limit Break, 1,000,000 Volts. A huge electrical pulse spat from the tip of his Electro Rod, effectively frying the second soldier, leaving a few crisped and melted chunks of metal on the ground. The last soldier continued towards them.  
  
"Uh - I don't have a Limit Break ready!" said Barret.  
  
"Nor do I," said Vincent.  
  
". . ." added Rude.  
  
"Mine isn't ready either!" Yuffie exclaimed. "And besides, my weapon is over there!"  
  
"I'm out of grenades," Elena groaned.  
  
They retreated back another few yards as the soldier got too close for comfort.  
  
"Look!" yelled Barret, pointing behind them.  
  
A whole squadron of Hojo's troops, led by six or more super soldiers, was hurrying in their direction from Sector 7.  
  
"Dammit!" Reno yelled. "We just need to get past this one guy, and we're home free!"  
  
"There's no way we can do that," said Vincent. "We have no more Limit Breaks."  
  
None of them knew what to do. The third soldier continued to advance. The army behind them was getting closer. There seemed to be no escape. 


	11. The Moment of Truth

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FF7 OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks to all those who have reviewed this story! I'll try not to disappoint!  
  
  
  
Chapter Ten  
  
The situation appeared hopeless. Barret and Vincent turned to fire on the army approaching them from behind, trying to take out as many grunts as possible before the wave of soldiers hit them. Cloud cast Bolt3 to try and weaken the one remaining super soldier that stood between them and freedom, but he succeeded in inflicting only minimal damage. The soldier raised its huge weapon to fire at him, and he dived to the ground for cover, but the super soldier was standing only a few feet away and surely it couldn't miss. Cloud cast Big Guard to protect himself, but instead of receiving a barrage of bullets in the face, he was nearly deafened by a series of terrific explosions.  
  
"Look!" he heard Yuffie yell.  
  
"We're saved!" Elena exclaimed joyfully.  
  
Cloud raised his head to see the Highwind hovering overhead, unleashing a salvo of heavy-duty missiles into the super soldier that blocked their path. It stumbled, fell, and was blown apart. Red XIII, standing on the lower deck of the ship, threw down the rope ladder and shouted, "Hurry! Get on board!"  
  
They climbed up the ladder as fast as they could, Cloud having to carry Tifa over his shoulders while climbing with one hand. Reno was the last on board, and he hauled up the rope ladder, yelling, "That's everyone! Step on it!"  
  
The Highwind performed a long, sweeping turn over the army below, Cid releasing volley upon volley of missiles at Hojo's troops. Eventually smoke so badly obscured the terrain below that they couldn't tell if anyone was left alive, so Cid decided not to take any more risks and piloted the ship away from Midgar. The party hurried up the stairs to meet him on the bridge. He turned to face them, his face covered in cuts and black oily stains from working on the Highwind's engines for five straight hours, "Turks?!? What the hell?"  
  
"Cid, it's okay, they helped us," said Cloud quickly. "They're on our side."  
  
Reno nodded and looked around, giving the Highwind an appraising once-over, "Hey, Cid, nice rust-bucket."  
  
Cid's mouth dropped open and his cigarette hit the floor, "WHAT THE %*&£ DID YOU SAY, YOU £&*$ING SON OF A £&*$%?!?!?!?"  
  
Going red in the face with fury, Cid grabbed the Venus Gospel from where it sat nearby, and began chasing Reno about the deck of his ship. Elena put her hands on her hips angrily and glared after Reno's fleeing form. Rude had put his hands over his eyes and was shaking his head despairingly, ". . .you just can't take him anywhere."  
  
Red sat on his haunches and gave a soft chuckle, "Cid is not a good mood. His ship is not in good condition. That was not a wise thing for Reno to say."  
  
"I'm sure if he apologises sincerely enough, Cid will forgive him. . .some day. . .well, maybe," said Vincent.  
  
"Doubt it. Anyway, how did you know where we were to come and rescue us?" asked Yuffie with a puzzled, curious look on her face.  
  
"Reeve contacted us," said Red.  
  
"Reeve!" Cloud exclaimed, slapping his hand against his forehead. "We clean forgot about him!"  
  
"Don't worry, he's safe," Red said. "Apparently Hojo never knew that Reeve was Cait Sith's controller or an honorary member of AVALANCHE, so he's not being treated as an enemy. He's been ordered to continue his desk job, working for Hojo. He's in a similar situation to that of Mayor Domino under Shinra. He managed to get his PHS back from Hojo, and saw your group escaping from the Shinra building. Then, on seeing you being followed by a sizeable group of Hojo troops, he called Cid and myself, and suggested that we come to your aid."  
  
"So you did," said Barret. "Good job too."  
  
"Yeah, thanks, Red!" Yuffie exclaimed, kneeling down to give the lion a hug.  
  
When she had released him from her grasp, Red shook his mane and said to Cloud, "I have more good news. Remember that flower I was describing to you, the one known as the Flower of Vengeance?"  
  
Cloud nodded, "What have you found out?"  
  
"I'm now 100% certain it is the poison used by Hojo," said Red. "All the symptoms match, and it being located near Hojo's labs in the Nibel reactor is too much coincidence."  
  
"Right," said Cloud optimistically. "So how long will it take you to work out the antidote?"  
  
"Unfortunately, that may take some time," Red sighed. "In fact I was going to suggest you go to Nibelheim and ask around there. Some of the inhabitants may have knowledge of local plant life, not written in any book but passed down through the generations."  
  
"Worth a shot," said Barret. "I'll go there for sure. I gotta do somethin' that helps Marlene! How soon can we leave?"  
  
"That's actually our biggest problem right now," said Red, his ears beginning to droop in despair. "We're currently running on the Highwind's emergency back-up engine. The original is finished and will never run again, according to Cid."  
  
"How much longer will the emergency engine be able to run?" asked Cloud.  
  
"One to two more hours," said Red. "Cid has spent several hours working on it, trying to 'squeeze out every last drop of juice' as he put it."  
  
"One or two hours?" said Vincent. "That won't be enough to get us to Nibelheim with this many people on board."  
  
Cloud turned to Rude and said, "Do you guys have any transport we can use?"  
  
". . ." Rude shook his head. "We had an all-terrain buggy when we worked for Shinra, but it was destroyed when Midgar was attacked by Weapon."  
  
"There are planes at Junon that we could 'borrow'," snickered Yuffie, making it clear that her idea of borrowing something did not include giving it back after you were finished with it.  
  
"Junon is under Hojo's control," said Red. "That is where the Highwind sustained such terrible damage."  
  
"Couldn't we sneak in?" said Yuffie.  
  
"We could, but Cid is the only who can fly a plane," said Cloud. "As a prominent member of our group, he'd be recognised in an instant."  
  
"Well, what are we going to do?" said Elena. "We have to get to Nibelheim somehow."  
  
The others shrugged. Even Cloud, the eternal optimist, stared at the floor and appeared to be out of ideas. Reno appeared beside them, grinning, "I think the old man is a bit out of shape."  
  
They turned to see Cid doubled over, clutching a stitch in his side, gasping for breath, cursing, "%£&$! I'm getting' too old for this - cough - an' I need to quit smokin'!"  
  
Yuffie ambled over to a piece of machinery, "Hey, Cid, mind if I play with this? What a pity you can't run fast enough to stop me!"  
  
"Don't touch that, you little £&&$!!" he yelled, staggering over to shoo her away. "That's a very important piece of the ship!"  
  
"I've never seen you use it before," she said dubiously. "What does it do?"  
  
"It's a new experimental engine I've been developing," he explained. "It uses a plasma injection valve to - "  
  
Then he smacked himself in the forehead and yelled, "I am gettin' old! I completely forgot! My new engine! We can use that to get to Nibelheim!"  
  
The others weren't totally convinced. Cloud said, "Uh, Cid, when you say experimental, I hope you don't mean some crazy idea you had once when you were drunk?"  
  
"Of course not, I've been working on it for years," said Cid. "I wrote a whole research paper on it when I was at the Shinra Flight School."  
  
"Does it work?" Barret asked the obvious question.  
  
"Never tried it out properly," Cid shrugged. "No time like the present though. . ."  
  
He opened up the hatch of the new engine and twiddled with a few things inside. Then he ran over to the ship's main control panel, new energy and vigour coming to him through the thought of finally being able to test his new engine design. Cloud was still unsure about it, and subtly indicated to the others to hold on to something.  
  
"Hold on ta somethin'!!" Cid yelled as he switched on the new engine.  
  
Those of the party, particularly Yuffie, who had braced themselves against an imminent explosion, looked cautiously towards the new engine. A quiet humming noise began, increasing in volume until the engine came to full power. Cid walked over to the ship's controls and stood there for a moment in reflection, "I've spent more than half my life designing this baby. Now I finally get to see if it works. This was my second-biggest dream after going into outer space. Well, here goes."  
  
He flipped the controls. Suddenly everybody was flung backwards as the ship was thrown forwards at a phenomenal rate of knots. They hung on for dear life and Barret yelled, "Can't this thing go any slower?!"  
  
"I'll try!" Cid shouted over the noise of the wind screaming past as he wrestled with the controls.  
  
He succeeded in slowing the ship sufficiently that they could all keep their balance without having to hold on to anything. Elena glanced over the side and gasped, "Wow! How fast are we going?"  
  
"Four times faster than normal!" Cid exclaimed, checking the speed gauge on the control panel. "We'll get to Nibelheim in no time!"  
  
The journey took less than half an hour at the Highwind's awesome new speed. Cid landed the ship in an open space near the mountains but away from the town itself.  
  
"Why don't we just land in Nibelheim?" Barret wondered.  
  
"We don't know how many troops Hojo has stationed there," said Vincent. "Cid and I were attacked at the Shinra Mansion so there must be a military presence somewhere."  
  
"We gotta kick their butts too!" Yuffie broke in. "That'll teach that dumb-ass Hojo to mess with us!"  
  
"Unfortunately, he's not a dumb-ass," said Cloud. "He's probably the greatest mind the planet has ever seen, with the possible exception of Bugenhagen. It's sad that his intelligence wasn't put to solving life's problems instead of exacerbating them, but that's just the way it is."  
  
"So what we gonna do?" asked Cid.  
  
"We'll split into two - no, three teams," said Cloud. "One team will go to the town and assess the threat from Hojo's soldiers, eliminating them if possible. The second team, which has to include Red, will go up into the mountains and search for a sample of the Flower of Vengeance, to help our studies for an antidote. The third team will stay here to guard the ship and watch over Tifa and Marlene."  
  
After a short discussion it was agreed that Red, Vincent and Elena would go to look for the flower, while Reno, Cid and Cloud would explore the town. Barret didn't want to leave Marlene, while Yuffie was still recovering from her airsickness, and Rude decided he'd stay on the ship. As the three of them approached the town, Cloud began to regret allowing Cid and Reno to be in the same team together. The two of them had hardly stopped arguing with each other since they'd arrived. Cloud gripped Ultima Weapon tightly and wondered what it was that made certain party members behave like school children despite being on a mission to save the world.  
  
"So what kind of money can you get in an old age pension these days?" Reno smirked.  
  
"What the &£%$ are you talkin' about?!" Cid retorted. "I'm only 32! How should I know?"  
  
"Really?!" asked Reno, pretending to be surprised. "I thought you had to be at least 50. I guess your hair is just going prematurely grey."  
  
"My hair is NOT going grey!" Cid yelled. "Shut yer hole, carrot- top!"  
  
"I'm so insulted," Reno yawned. "Why are you so grouchy, anyhow? Is your rheumatism acting up again?"  
  
"All right, you $*£&$(*&, that does it!" yelled Cid. "I'll - "  
  
"Shut up, both of you," Cloud snapped. "We're getting near the town; somebody will hear you."  
  
Reno smirked at Cid and fell silent. Cid continued to grumble under his breath as they readied their weapons and approached the village of Nibelheim. There didn't appear to be anyone there.  
  
"Where are the villagers?" asked Cid, as they crouched down behind a big rock to keep an eye on the town.  
  
"They could all be inside," said Cloud.  
  
"Or dead," said Reno.  
  
Cloud pointed to the path that led up to the mountains, the one they'd just come down, "Look, in the mud just there - tyre tracks. Hojo must be moving supplies and soldiers through here, to and from the reactor."  
  
"Sounds sensible," Cid nodded.  
  
"If this is his supply route, we have to cut it off," Cloud decided. "It's the only way up into the mountains, since there's almost nowhere to land a plane up there. If his materials aren't getting through, he can't create any more genetic soldiers."  
  
"Why don't we just go up there and blow up the reactor?" Reno asked. "You and Barret have had plenty of practice at that."  
  
Cloud ignored the barb and said, "Maybe we'll meet up with the others later and do that. For now finding that plant and its antidote have to be our priority."  
  
He led them forward until they were hidden beneath some trees just at the edge of town. There was still nobody in sight. Cloud indicated that they proceed, and they crept forward stealthily until they were standing by the town well.  
  
"Well, there's nobody here," said Reno. "This was a nice way to waste time we can't afford. What's our next brilliant plan?"  
  
"Let's see you think of one since you're so smart!" Cid retorted.  
  
"This house?" said Cloud, ignoring them, pointing to the one at the end of the row. "When I lived in Nibelheim as a child, an old lady lived here who knew about local plants and herbal medicines. She'll be dead now, I imagine, but it might be worth having a look in the house."  
  
"But surely somebody else lives there now?" said Cid.  
  
"Dunno," said Cloud. "I haven't been back for any length of time to find out."  
  
He walked to the house in question and banged on the door, "Hi! Anyone in?"  
  
No reply. He pushed the door open. The house was cold and empty. Cloud's attention was attracted by a piece of paper lying on the floor just inside the door. He picked it up.  
  
"Dear Kara," he read aloud, as Cid and Reno entered the house behind him. "Please do not be alarmed that I am not here. I have left to seek sanctuary at Cosmo Canyon where my former lover resides. Do not linger here; the military will find you. They have taken over the town but I have left a surprise for them. Yours, Maria."  
  
"The military have taken over, huh?" said Cid, glancing back at the deserted town centre. "Don't see 'em anywhere."  
  
"Who's Maria?" asked Reno.  
  
"Maria. . ." Cloud said slowly. "I think that was the name of the old lady who used to live here when I was young. Amazing - she must still be alive."  
  
"That's good, right?" said Cid. "If she still owns this house, maybe we can find some herbs that will help Tifa."  
  
"Maybe. I wish Red were here," said Cloud. "I don't even know what kind of plants we're looking for."  
  
"Then bring 'em all back with us," Cid suggested. "Or give him a call and ask, try to narrow it down a bit so we only have to take back a few."  
  
Reno yawned, "I'm going back outside to see if I can find any sign of Hojo's troops. There's something not right here."  
  
Nobody argued so he left the house. Cloud had a vague memory that the old lady Maria kept her herb supply in a room at the back, so he and Cid went through there.  
  
"It's still here," said Cloud, as they entered a room filled from floor to ceiling, wall to wall, with plants in various sizes of pots, or dried and pressed in boxes. "I wonder if any of them is the one we want."  
  
"Phone Red," Cid suggested.  
  
Cloud did, but he wasn't getting any signal.  
  
"The mountains must interfere with the signals," he sighed. "I'll try again later. Let's go and make sure Reno isn't doing anything stupid."  
  
"Huh," Cid grumbled. "I've yet to see that kid do something that's NOT stupid."  
  
As they left the house, they saw Reno emerging from the front of the house next door. He turned to face them and shrugged, "Nobody here either."  
  
"Weird," said Cid. "Where are the soldiers?"  
  
"The old lady's note said she'd left a 'surprise' for them," Cloud mused. "I wonder what it was, and if it's the reason why we can't find them."  
  
"Who knows?" said Reno. "Anyway, how about we hop up to the Nibel reactor and have a look around up there?"  
  
* * *  
  
Hojo turned over the next page of the report in front of him. He frowned. The results from his experiments were really not acceptable. He was already running behind schedule, and to make things worse, the AVALANCHE members had escaped. How they'd got out, he wasn't sure, but he was pretty sure the Turks had a hand in it. Hojo growled with annoyance - the Turks had never respected him. He knew he should have had them killed right away. Still, it didn't matter. They must still be in Midgar somewhere, trying to make their escape. It was inconceivable that they would be able to evade his entire army. Even if they did get out of the city, they'd be on foot and low on supplies. In other words, easy prey. Hojo allowed himself a brief cackle as he revelled in the fact that the AVALANCHE airship, Highwind, had finally been shot down. That ship had been a thorn in his and Shinra's side too often. With no means of transport, the AVALANCHE were finished.  
  
"Professor Hojo, sir?" came a voice.  
  
He looked up. A guard was standing at the door of the laboratory, trembling nervously, his hand raised in a salute. Hojo idly wondered if it was the same man as before; with that uniform they all looked the same.  
  
"Have AVALANCHE brought up to the test chambers right away," said Hojo. "Do it quickly, efficiently, and without allowing them to destroy anything on the way, and I may consider raising your pay."  
  
The guard looked as if he wished a hole in the ground would swallow up. Plucking up his courage, he stammered, "Uh - uh, sir, we - we - uh - we don't have them."  
  
"I beg your pardon?"  
  
"They got away, sir."  
  
Hojo leapt to his feet and erupted, "WHAT?!?! HOW?!?"  
  
He grabbed the man around the neck and began throttling him, "Speak to me, you fool!"  
  
"We had them trapped - on the edge of the city," the man gasped, fighting for breath. "They - got away - in - their airship. . ."  
  
"The Highwind?"  
  
"Y - yes, s - sir," the man choked.  
  
Hojo squeezed the last breath of life from the guard, and flung the corpse against the wall. He hadn't actually intended to kill him, but with his new genetically-enhanced musculature, Hojo literally didn't know his own strength. The worst thing about it was that he didn't even care about the man's death. There were plenty of replacements.  
  
"Why can't I destroy that airship?!" Hojo complained to himself. "Why is it, no matter what I do, AVALANCHE can always come through alive? I suppose they had that Cetra on their side - yes, that must be it, the Planet must be protecting them because of her."  
  
Thinking about Aeris reminded Hojo of a certain something that had been delivered to him only yesterday. He walked across to the other side of his lab and opened up a box that contained two items, carefully wrapped up in the protective foam that had kept them intact during the journey from Nibelheim. Hojo picked up the first object, then the other, regarding them both with awe. In his hands he held the keys to not only destroying AVALANCHE, but to taking control of the entire Planet.  
  
* * *  
  
The party met up back at the Highwind's operations room, where the others noticed Vincent was carrying a glass jar with something inside.  
  
"What's that?" asked Yuffie.  
  
"It's the only sample we were able to find," said Vincent, laying the jar down extremely carefully on the table.  
  
"The poisonous flower?"  
  
"That's right," said Red. "Do not, under any circumstances, open that jar. Even the slightest contact with the thorns on the plant's stem will poison you."  
  
"I gotcha," said Yuffie. "No touchee."  
  
Vincent looked at Cloud, "I take it by your uninjured appearance, there were no hostiles in town."  
  
"There was nobody at all," said Cloud. "It was weird."  
  
He told them about the empty houses and the letter they'd found. Red's ears pricked up with sudden interest when he heard mention of the room full of flowers and herbs.  
  
"You must take me there at once," the lion said.  
  
"Right," Cloud nodded. "Reno, Vincent, come with us just in case. The rest of you stay here and guard that flower sample."  
  
Reno, who'd just got comfortable in a stuffed chair, groaned but got to his feet to follow the others out of the room. The four of them went down to the village and into the old woman's house. Cloud led the way to the herb room while Vincent looked about, clearly disturbed by the lack of people here, and Reno sauntered casually with his shirt-tails untucked and his blue suit jacket hanging loosely from his shoulders.  
  
"Ah, yes," said Red, examining a few samples. "I think what we are looking for will definitely be here."  
  
Cloud's heart gave a leap. The antidote! Within hours, minutes perhaps, Tifa would be back among them! The agony and worry that had been gnawing at his heart would be gone. Well, not completely gone. There was still Hojo to deal with.  
  
"Obviously I don't know enough yet to pinpoint the antidote exactly," Red was saying. "But I know which family it belongs to. It will be one of these."  
  
With his front left paw he indicated a row of dried herbs in red boxes.  
  
"Shall we take them all?" asked Vincent.  
  
Cloud nodded, "Yes. Grab those two and I'll get these ones. Reno? Where are you? Oh, will you get off your butt and help us?!"  
  
Reno, who'd been trying out some of the old lady's living room furniture, most notable a comfy-looking armchair, sighed deeply and came through. He picked up the last two boxes and they started on their way back to the Highwind. They were passing the Shinra Mansion when Red suddenly said, "Stop. I thought I heard something."  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"A cry for help."  
  
"Where?"  
  
Red nodded his head towards the Mansion, "There."  
  
"Here, take these," said Cloud, giving his two boxes to Vincent. "You and Reno go back to the ship. Red and I will investigate this."  
  
Pulling Ultima Weapon from its place on his back, he followed Red inside the Mansion. The lion sniffed the air, "People have been here recently - I don't recognise their scent. I'll follow the trail."  
  
The trail took them to the secret spiral staircase that led to the basement. The door at the bottom was closed, and voices could be heard from behind. One of them was yelling for help. Cloud hurried down the stairs and tried the door. It was locked. He took a swipe with his sword, destroying the old, decaying wood, and the door collapsed. Inside the corridor, which was partially filled with rocks from some kind of cave-in, eight or nine people were huddled.  
  
"The Nibelheim villagers," said Cloud. "What happened? What are you doing down here?"  
  
"The soldiers locked us down here!" a man exclaimed. "We were complaining about them bringing their supplies through here in big trucks, so they threw us down here and left us!"  
  
"How long have you been down here?"  
  
"A day or more. Have you come to rescue us?"  
  
"Yes," said Cloud. "I'm Cloud Strife. I used to live here. Some of you might recognise me."  
  
A woman at the back nodded, "I used to know your mother. Is it true Professor Hojo's come back from the dead?"  
  
"He's back, but he was never dead," said Cloud. "Do any of you know anything about the old woman who lives in the house at the edge of town? The one with the herb garden?"  
  
"Old Maria?" said another man. "She's just a crazy old lady. She went off south one day, just before we got thrown down here. She's probably dead now. She was really old and weird."  
  
Cloud wasn't sure what to make of the whole situation, but he freed the villagers, then he and Red hurried back up to the ship.  
  
"I'll identify the antidote as fast as I can," Red promised, taking the plant and herb samples to a corner of the operations room.  
  
"So, what about the reactor?" asked Reno.  
  
"We'll get to that," said Cloud impatiently. "Right now I'm more worried about Tifa and Marlene. Once they're back on their feet, we'll make our next move."  
  
It took Red and Vincent about an hour to identify the herb that would act as an antidote to the poison. Dropping a few ground-up leaves into a cup of water, they managed to synthesise a liquid version of the cure.  
  
"How do we administer it?" asked Cloud.  
  
"It will need to be injected into their veins," said Red. "We will do Tifa first. If the mixture is too strong, it would probably kill Marlene, but Tifa would survive it."  
  
Vincent, who had the steadiest hand and knew the most about medicine, took a few drops of the mixture into a syringe, and with his gently probing fingers found a vein in Tifa's upper arm. He injected the liquid, and the party watched on tensely to see what would happen.  
  
"If it has worked, the poison will be swiftly counteracted," Red remarked. "She will awake shortly after, but it will be an hour or two before she is strong enough to be back on her feet."  
  
"She is showing no adverse reactions," said Vincent, checking Tifa's pulse and blood pressure. "That means the mixture is not dangerously strong. Marlene will not be harmed," he assured Barret.  
  
The big gunman nodded and carried his daughter's prone figure over to Vincent. The raven-haired man, with the utmost care not to injure the small figure in front of him, injected her arm with a few drops of the solution, and checked her vital signs, "Pulse rate has increased but not dangerously so. Now we must wait."  
  
Cloud knelt down beside Tifa's still body and gently pushed her hair out of her eyes. Did her face look less pale, or was that his imagination? He took her limp hand and held it in both his own. This was the moment of truth. If this didn't save her, nothing would. 


	12. From the Shadows

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FF7 OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS  
  
Chapter Eleven  
  
The silver-uniformed grunt arrived at Hojo's new office on the top floor of the Shinra building. Having run all the way from the security centre on floor 65, he was out of breath, and took a moment to compose himself before entering the office. Hojo was leafing through a pile of reports, searching for a file which eluded him. His genetically-enhanced ears heard the man the second he entered, and he turned to face him, "Yes?"  
  
"Sir, it's probably nothing, sir, but the garrison at Nibelheim has not reported back during the last ten hours," the guard said.  
  
"Have you tried contacting them?"  
  
"Yes sir, no response, sir."  
  
"Try again."  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
The guard saluted and left. Hojo thought for a minute. Perhaps it was faulty equipment, or the soldiers in Nibelheim were busy, but he couldn't take the chance. Nibelheim would be where the AVALANCHE would have headed if they discovered he was using the Flower of Vengeance to poison them. He didn't particularly care now whether they managed to find an antidote or not; the poison had fulfilled its task: that of distracting AVALANCHE while his troops took control of every major city on the Planet. It would have been better if the poison had killed all the AVALANCHE members, but it didn't matter. Now he would have the pleasure of killing them personally, one at a time. His first move would be to trap them in Nibelheim, assuming that was where they were, then putting that infernal Highwind out of commission once and for all. Reinforced by the Turks however, AVALANCHE would be a difficult proposition, and even with his genetically-enhanced body, Hojo wasn't confident of defeating them in battle. He would have to resort to his usual tactics of slyness and subtlety. One member of AVALANCHE would be forced to betray the others, and join Hojo. He allowed himself a cackle as he thought about it. He knew exactly which of them it would be. Nobody was totally incorruptible, and Hojo had found the perfect way to make that AVALANCHE member turn traitor.  
  
* * *  
  
"Cloud?" Yuffie yelled. "I think she's coming to!"  
  
Cloud jerked awake, and hurried over to where the ninja was kneeling beside Tifa. Barret and Cid looked on tensely, and Red and Vincent watched on, hoping that their antidote had proved successful. Tifa stirred and her eyes opened.  
  
"Y - Yuffie?" she whispered weakly.  
  
"You're awake!" Cloud exclaimed, taking her hand. "You're alive!"  
  
Yuffie leaned down to give Tifa a tight hug, but Vincent pulled her back, "Be patient, Yuffie. Tifa will be exhausted and will have to take it easy for a while."  
  
"I'm - on the Highwind?" Tifa said.  
  
"That's right," said Cid, his craggy features lit up with a warm smile. "It's good to have you back."  
  
"Back? Where - where was I?"  
  
"We'll explain later," said Cloud. "You get some rest just now. We'll have you back on your feet in no time. Then we can really kick Hojo's ass!!"  
  
"Hojo? Isn't he dead?" Tifa whispered.  
  
"Sshh, honey, just rest. We'll tell you everything when you're stronger. Promise."  
  
Tifa succumbed to her exhaustion and lay down to sleep. Right about then Marlene regained consciousness, and Barret cried tears of relief and joy at seeing her well again. Red, happy that his hours of research had not been in vain, lay in the corner of the room and snoozed.  
  
* * *  
  
Meanwhile the Turks were standing on the Highwind's deck, keeping an eye out for any approaching enemies. Elena wasn't happy about the situation.  
  
"Reno, remind me again why we're working with the terrorists?" she said. "Aren't we supposed to be fighting the AVALANCHE?"  
  
"Elena," said Reno wearily. "You talk too much. Now let me remind you of a few facts. Number one, we were fighting AVALANCHE under the orders of the Shinra family, who are no longer here. Number two, it would not make good political sense to be seen as an enemy of the group who saved the Planet. Technically the Lifestream saved the Planet, but everybody credits AVALANCHE with doing it. Fact number three, do you really want to live in a world ruled by Hojo? Because if we don't stand up to him, that's what will happen."  
  
". . ." Rude said, nodding his agreement.  
  
Elena still wasn't convinced, "Yes, I understand all that, but what I mean is: if Hojo attacks us and it becomes obvious that we've no chance of winning, do we still help the AVALANCHE?"  
  
"We're not fighting for the AVALANCHE or anything that they might believe in," Reno explained. "We're fighting for ourselves, to save ourselves from Hojo. Joining with AVALANCHE just happens to be our best chance of survival. We may not always agree with them, but we CAN co-exist peacefully with them. The same cannot be said of Hojo."  
  
"I see. So if the worst comes to the worst?"  
  
Reno sighed in exasperation, "If the worst comes to the worst, we fight Hojo to the death, regardless of anything else. We don't know what's going to happen, so let's just face it when it does."  
  
". . ." Rude agreed.  
  
* * *  
  
"Sir, the AVALANCHE airship has been spotted in the Nibel mountains!"  
  
Hojo turned to face another of the anonymous grunts. It was amazing the way they all seemed to be the same size and shape; it was as if they were cloned.  
  
"Contact the troops at the Nibel Reactor," said Hojo. "Tell them to attack with everything they have. Destroy the Highwind, but keep the AVALANCHE alive. I have plans for them."  
  
"Yes sir!"  
  
It would be simpler just to kill the terrorists then and there, Hojo reflected, but where would be the fun in that? After all, he needed some new experimental subjects. And having the AVALANCHE traitor join him would only make him stronger.  
  
* * *  
  
Tifa was taking her first steps since waking up. Supported by Cloud, she was able to hobble up and down the Operations Room, feeling strength returning to her with every step. Marlene was sitting at the long conference table, with a bowl of Shera's home- made soup (Cid never left home without some) as she had complained of being hungry. Cloud, Vincent and Red had taken turns to explain to Tifa what was going on.  
  
"I can't believe Hojo's still alive," she said. "If he's not dead, what did we kill on top of the Sister Ray?"  
  
"One of his genetic creations, I suspect," said Red. "We know he has a psychic link to his super soldiers. What we killed back then was probably an early prototype of some sort."  
  
Cloud shrugged. Tifa stretched her arms and said, "You know, I feel as good as new."  
  
"Yeah, well, take it easy for a little while longer," said Cloud. "You don't want to overdo things and tire yourself out."  
  
Just then the door to the Operations Room was thrown open and Rude announced, ". . .we've got trouble."  
  
Cloud and the others rushed to the flight deck to see what was the matter.  
  
"We seem to have attracted some attention," Reno informed them.  
  
That was putting it mildly. Lined up in front of the Highwind was a whole army of Hojo's troops, one or two hundred of them at least, every ten or so ordinary grunts led by one of the silver giants. Cloud turned to Cid, "I think we'd better take off and get out of here."  
  
"Wish we could, kid, but it's not that simple," Cid grumbled. "The new engine is so powerful that it's already blown at least five of the valves in the propulsion system. We won't be going anywhere until I get those fixed."  
  
"How long will that take?"  
  
"Anything from fifteen minutes to three hours, depends how lucky I get," Cid responded. "That isn't the only problem, anyway. Look over there. They've brought two *&£$£& anti-aircraft batteries with them. The ship will be a sitting duck for a good few moments after we take off."  
  
"Well, we've got no other options," said Cloud. "We can't stay here. I'll take the others down and keep Hojo's men distracted while you fix the valves."  
  
"What about the anti-aircraft guns?"  
  
"Vincent?" Cloud said, the raven-haired man appearing at his side. "You stay on the ship and shoot from here. When we're ready to take off, you shoot whoever's manning the AA guns. That should allow us to get away safely."  
  
"Let's do it," said Cid.  
  
He ripped the cover off the Highwind's engine and began his repairs. Vincent took his position at the edge of the deck and began firing at the soldiers below. Cloud threw down the rope ladder and the rest of the party followed him down to the battlefield. Barret, Elena and Yuffie wasted no time, getting stuck in right away with their long-range weaponry. Cloud, Reno and Rude formed a protective barrier in front of them, confronting any enemies who got too close, but without trying to move forward themselves. They didn't want to exterminate the opposing army - it was way too big for that to work - just to hold them off until they could make their escape.  
  
"I don't understand," said Reno to Cloud during a break in the fighting. "The super-soldiers are just sitting back. Why aren't they attacking us?"  
  
"Hojo must have some plan in mind," Cloud answered. "He's controlling them from that transmitter in his head, remember. Whatever they're doing, he's telling them to do it."  
  
"Weird. You'd think he'd want them to kill us, but it would seem not. Ah well, if they're letting us live, I won't complain."  
  
"I'm not so sure. Whatever Hojo has in mind for us, you can bet it won't be nice."  
  
They fought alongside each other as another wave of grunts charged forwards. Cloud was so caught up in the action that didn't have much time to think, but he did reflect on how strange it felt to be fighting on the same side as Reno, when they'd squared off against each other so many times in the past. Ah well, that was life, he supposed. Their previous confrontations had been professional disputes, not personal ones. Cloud sensed that deep down, Reno was a good person at heart. He had simply been doing his job, whether he agreed with it or not. In different circumstances, maybe he would even have joined AVALANCHE. Over the almost constant noise of the battle around him, Cloud heard the sound of the Highwind's engines starting. Cid must have got lucky.  
  
"Everyone get back to the ship!" he yelled. "Vincent - fire!"  
  
They retreated back towards the rope ladder, fighting grunts as they went. Vincent went down on one knee, cocked his gun, and took careful aim. His first shot was perfect, taking out the soldier manning the first AA gun. The soldier at the second battery saw what had happened to his comrade, and dived for cover behind the second AA gun, as Vincent's second shot whistled through the air where the soldier had just been standing. Vincent cursed under his breath. He didn't have a clear shot now, but he could at least force the man to stay under cover, preventing him from firing the AA gun.  
  
"Let's go!" Cloud yelled. "Cid, take her up!"  
  
Cid's hands moved over the controls and the Highwind took off vertically from the ground. Vincent snapped off another shot as a grunt tried to fire one of the AA guns. He hit the man in the shoulder, but it was good enough. Cid put the engines to maximum power and they were ready to fly.  
  
"Wait a minute!" somebody cried. "Yuffie's not on board!"  
  
"That damn kid! Where is she?" Cid snapped.  
  
They peered over the side. Yuffie was fighting a losing battle against a group of grunts and one super soldier. Any minute now they would conquer her. Without a word Vincent leaped over the guard rail to her aid, landing like a cat on the ground below. Cloud was on his way to join him when Cid grabbed his arm, "Where you going, kid?"  
  
"Where does it look like? I'm going to help Vincent."  
  
"I can't keep the ship hovering here for ever, Cloud! The valves might blow again, and there's still those AA guns!"  
  
Cloud shook his head, "You just get to safety. We'll take care of ourselves, and we'll call you when we're ready to be picked up."  
  
Cid hesitated. Cloud said urgently, "Go! Now! Reno, you're in charge until I get back!"  
  
With that he jumped over the side and landed beside Vincent, unsheathing the sword he'd put away only seconds ago. He looked up to see the Highwind rising into the sky and disappearing off into the distance, a few stray AA shots following it but failing to make any contact. Vincent reloaded his gun and fired at the group of soldiers tormenting Yuffie. Three of them fell, as the little ninja back-flipped over a jagged rock, buying herself a few seconds with which to escape. Cloud ran forward to her aid, slashing his way through the mob of soldiers until he stood beside Yuffie.  
  
"Cloud!" she gasped. "You came back for me!"  
  
"I'll never leave a friend in danger," he said simply. "How's your Limit Gauge?"  
  
"Full!" she said eagerly.  
  
"Good. Use it on that super soldier. It's the only thing that'll hurt them."  
  
Yuffie's Level 4 Limit Break was All Creation, but after a major row with her father, he'd taken away the Limit manual from her, and so she now relied upon her Level 3, Doom of the Living. Attacking the super soldier, she sliced and diced through its otherwise impenetrable armour, killing the man inside. He toppled forward, trapping her legs beneath his heavy frame. Two silver grunts, noticing her predicament, turned their rifles to bear on her. Vincent shot them both, sending their bodies flying to either side amongst a hail of bullets. Yuffie struggled to free herself from beneath dead giant, but her Conformer had become trapped in the titanium alloy armour, and wouldn't come free. While it was stuck there, she couldn't use her arms to free herself. She looked around for assistance. Cloud was now taking on three super soldiers, killing one of them with Omni-Slash, but now standing trapped between the other two. The first raised his giant arm and clubbed Cloud in the side of the head, knocking the swordsman to the ground, unconscious. Vincent had run forward to try and help free Yuffie, but he was attacked from behind, and also knocked out cold. Yuffie wriggled furiously in an attempt to get herself out, but it was to no avail. There was a sudden sharp pain in the back of her head, and she blacked out.  
  
* * *  
  
Cloud woke in darkness, in an unfamiliar room. He sat up slowly, pressing his fingers to his temple against the throbbing headache he had. He remembered that he had been hit over the head, that would explain the headache. . .it would also explain waking up in this strange place. His eyes began to adjust to the darkness, and he looked around the room he was now in. It was a small room, with three tables (or beds - he couldn't tell in the darkness) across from where he sat. He tried to get to his feet, but was stopped abruptly when his head collided with something. He dropped back into a sitting position and looked up. There was nothing there. The ceiling was several feet above him - what had he hit his head on? He put his hands up to see if there was anything there, that maybe he couldn't see in the darkness. He felt glass. Cloud began to panic. He put his hands out to either side - he felt glass. Suddenly it struck him. He was inside some kind of glass containment chamber! Which meant - Hojo - he had to be in one of Hojo's labs somewhere! His suspicions were confirmed as the room as suddenly bathed in light and, screwing up his eyes against the sudden brightness, he saw Hojo walking into the room. In the light he could now clearly see the glass confines of the chamber in which he was trapped. Cloud shifted into a kneeling position as he was getting uncomfortable, and he felt something soft pressing against him. He looked down. Yuffie lay curled up in the containment cell beside him. She was still out cold. Cloud looked up to see what Hojo was doing. The maniac in the white lab coat was standing beside the glass prison, holding a clipboard and writing something on to a sheet of paper. Cloud hammered on the glass walls but they were too strong for him to break.  
  
"Let us out!" he yelled.  
  
Hojo looked up and gave him a depraved grin. He wrote something down on a piece of paper and held it up. Cloud read the words: THE GLASS IS SOUNDPROOFED AND UNBREAKABLE. DO NOT WASTE YOUR BREATH OR STRENGTH. Hojo's suggestion had the opposite effect, sending Cloud into a frenzy of attacking the glass walls with his hands and feet, trying to break through somewhere. He hated being cooped up this way, like some kind of zoo animal or lab specimen. . .but that was exactly how Hojo saw him now. . .as a lab rat. There had to be some way out of here. Looking over to his right, Cloud could see a similar holding cell where Vincent was sitting morosely, his cloak spread around his body like a sleeping bat. He couldn't tell whether or not the raven-haired man was awake. When Cloud turned round to face Hojo, the scientist had disappeared.  
  
* * *  
  
To say that Cid wasn't pleased at having Reno as the new leader would have been an understatement. Cid was still smarting at Reno's flippant remark about his beloved airship, and didn't trust the Turk any further than he could throw the Gold Saucer. In fact, an attempt at starting a friendly relationship between Hojo and Vincent would probably have gone further. But, he had to admit, Reno WAS taking the job seriously. There was none of his usual sarcastic clowning around; he was making plans, encouraging people and motivating them, like a true leader. He was acting more like Cloud than Cloud, and Cid wasn't sure if he could handle having TWO people like that.  
  
"It's been how long?" Reno was saying to Red.  
  
"Nearly four hours."  
  
"And we still haven't heard word from them," said Reno. "I think we're going to have to assume the worst - that they were killed or captured."  
  
"So what we gonna do 'bout it?" Barret grunted, equally displeased at having to take orders from Reno.  
  
"We'll assume for the moment that they have been captured," Reno said. "Now where's the most likely place Hojo would take them?"  
  
"He has extensive research facilities at both Midgar and Mt Nibel," said Elena. "I'd say he's gone to either of those places."  
  
"But which, that's the question," said Red. "Mt Nibel is closer but the Shinra building is better guarded. Where should we try?"  
  
"Why don't we split up and do both?" Tifa suggested.  
  
"I just KNEW somebody was gonna say that," Cid grumbled. "Trouble with that idea is, we only have one ship. And who's gonna take command of the second group?"  
  
"It's a good idea," Reno decided. "If you land the ship in Nibelheim again, half of us can walk to the reactor, while the rest of you fly to Midgar. I'll lead the group that goes into the Nibel reactor, since with Cloud and Vincent gone, I probably know the most about the layout of Shinra facilities. Cid, you lead the second group to Midgar. It's your ship, so you'll have to fly it there anyway."  
  
"All right," Cid muttered grudgingly, accepting the Turk's plan. "Who're you takin' with you?"  
  
"Tifa and Barret," Reno decided. "Rude and Elena know the Shinra building better than anyone but me, so they can go with you. And Red XIII, well I hate putting it this way. . ."  
  
". . .but I know the most about the Shinra building's research labs, having been in them," Red finished for him. "No offence taken."  
  
Tifa said nothing, merely nodding her head, and Barret raised no immediate complaints about having to work under Reno. He saw there was a good mix of short and long range fighters in each group, so it made no sense to complain just because he didn't like the person who'd come up with the plan.  
  
"Then let's go," said Reno. "We have no time to waste."  
  
"You got tha' right," Barret muttered under his breath.  
  
* * *  
  
The three of them wound their way through the mountains towards the Nibel reactor. There were still heavily-manned patrols covering the main road in, but Tifa, who had grown up exploring these mountains, knew of several secret routes to the reactor, and they managed to get to it without encountering a single trooper. Several times they were attacked by the grasshopper-like Kyuvilduns, but those did not pose a significant threat. Now they were crouched behind the cover of some large rocks, keeping out of sight, waiting for their opportunity to enter the reactor.  
  
"If we want to destroy this place, all we have to do is plant an explosive right next to the Mako suction pipes," said Reno, then he smirked. "But hey, why am I telling you that? You two are the experts on blowing up Mako reactors."  
  
Barret reacted angrily, but Tifa didn't rise to the bait, and put out her arm to calm the big gunman. She noted with dismay that Reno was acting more like his old, unbearable self again. Barret settled for grumbling, "Ain't none of us here got a clean record."  
  
Reno shrugged to indicate he didn't care, then turned his attention back to the reactor. There was a group of guards, standing about looking board, none of them paying a whole lot of attention to what was going on around them.  
  
"Hey, big shot," Reno taunted Barret. "Think you can take them out?"  
  
"You damn right I can!" said Barret, standing up and readying his machinegun.  
  
Tifa pulled him back out of sight, "I think we should do this more quietly. Somebody might hear the gunfire."  
  
"Very well, what do you have in mind?" said Reno.  
  
Tifa slotted her Mastered Enemy Skill Materia into the Premium Heart, and cast Frog Song on the group of soldiers. When the smoke cleared, five frogs lay sleeping on the ground where the soldiers had been. Tifa knew the Frog spell wouldn't last long, but the Sleepel should keep the soldiers out of it for a good while. They hid the sleeping forms behind some rocks, and ran up the stairs into the reactor.  
  
"Looks like Hojo has made some modifications to this building," said Reno as soon as they were inside. "I don't recognise a lot of this."  
  
"Yo, thought you said you knew Shinra buildings inside-out!" Barret declared.  
  
"I do," Reno replied. "But since this is now a Hojo building and not a Shinra building. . ."  
  
"Oh, let's get on with it," Tifa sighed. "We've got to rescue Cloud and the others! You two can argue like kids later if you want! Reno, where should we look first?"  
  
"A logical guess would be through in the breeding chambers," said Reno. "That's where Hojo did all his genetic experimentation before, most notably on the Jenova project. Though if that's where the super soldiers are being bred, we'll have to watch our step in case we run into any of them."  
  
"Do you know any shortcuts that might help us avoid them?"  
  
"Not with the amount of change the building has undergone," said Reno. "We'll just have to be careful. Come on, let's go."  
  
They climbed down the ladder from the entrance and down on to the gantry that led through to the breeding rooms.  
  
"Listen," said Reno suddenly. "Do you hear anything?"  
  
"No," said Tifa.  
  
"Notta thing," said Barret.  
  
"Me neither," said Reno. "Which is weird. There isn't even any machinery running in the background. In fact, from the looks of things, Hojo has shut down this reactor."  
  
"But why?"  
  
"Don't know. Let's take a look in the next room."  
  
They hurried through to the breeding chamber. It was just as Tifa remembered it from five years ago when she'd run in to attack Sephiroth and been near-fatally wounded. The breeding cells still lined the room, with pipes leading from each of them to the big door with JENOVA above it.  
  
"They're all empty," said Tifa, glancing inside a couple of the cells. "There's nothing here."  
  
"Hojo must have pulled out of here," Reno said. "Once he took over Midgar, he must have moved his centre of operations to the Shinra building. That's where he'll be breeding his super soldiers now. What I don't understand is why there were soldiers guarding this place when there is nothing here to guard."  
  
"They must just be the last few troops he hasn't shipped out yet," Tifa guessed. "Maybe he had them stationed here in case we showed up. Hey, if Hojo's moved all his laboratory work to Midgar, that must be where Cloud is. Assuming that he's still alive."  
  
"He'll be OK," Barret said. "You gotta think positive. You start thinkin' negative and everythin' falls apar'!"  
  
Reno looked thoughtful, "I wonder if there is something still there that Hojo wanted protected - that he didn't want us to find. Let's try one of the upper levels and see what we can find."  
  
"An' what if it turns out to be a big waste 'a time?" Barret demanded.  
  
The Turk shrugged, "There's nothing else we can really do until the others get back here with the airship.  
  
They knew he was right so neither of them tried to argue. For want of anything else to do, they followed Reno to the nearest elevator, which took them up to the next floor of the reactor. They stepped out into the corridor beyond, finding it just as empty and abandoned as the rooms below.  
  
"There's nobody here," said Tifa. "Reno, exactly what are you looking for?"  
  
"I can't say for sure," Reno said. "There must be something here that Hojo wants kept a secret, something that, for whatever reason, he couldn't move to Midgar along with the rest of his stuff. I reckon we'll know it when we see it."  
  
"How big is this place anyway?" asked Barret, looking around. "We've only ever seen the bottom floor before."  
  
"To the best of my knowledge, there should be three floors above that," said Reno. "We're on the first now. Of course, we don't know how much this building has changed from how I remember it."  
  
The floor they were on was quite small, and, as they soon found, totally deserted. Half an hour later they were back at the elevator and began searching the second floor. They were walking down the darkened, empty hallway, when Reno suddenly put out a hand to stop the others.  
  
"Did you hear that?" he hissed.  
  
"Hear what?"  
  
"Sshh! Listen!"  
  
They stood in silence for a minute or two, straining their ears for the slightest sound that might warn of danger. There wasn't, however, anything to be heard. Total silence surrounded them on all sides. Eventually Barret grunted, "Huh. Ain't nothin'. What'd you hear anyway?"  
  
"Sounded like footsteps, on the floor above," said Reno. "I'm not so sure we're alone here."  
  
Tifa instinctively dusted off her Premium Heart while Barret loaded a fresh magazine into his Missing Score, and Reno unholstered the Electro Rod.  
  
"I could have imagined it," Reno said. "Still, keep your eyes open."  
  
This time they all heard the noise from the floor above. Footsteps, lightly padding in the direction of the elevator.  
  
"Somebody's definitely up there," Tifa whispered. "What are we going to do?"  
  
"Let's go up and see who's there," Barret said.  
  
"Agreed," said Reno. "Keep cool though, it might not even be an enemy."  
  
They got into the elevator and rode up to the third floor. Tifa and Barret readied their weapons and took up a fighting stance as Reno punched the button that opened the door. They found the corridor beyond to be in pitch darkness. The overhead lights were either broken or switched off.  
  
"I don't hear anything," said Tifa. "I can't see anyone either. I wonder where they went."  
  
"This corridor is so dark you could put Heidegger and Palmer in it and not be able to see them," Reno muttered. "I'll see if I can find a lightswitch."  
  
He stepped out into the blackness of the hallway and felt the walls on either side for a switch. Tifa and Barret heard the sound of footsteps pattering towards them, then another sound, and somebody collapsed to the ground.  
  
"Reno?"  
  
There was no response. Barret narrowed his eyes suspiciously and strode forward to where he'd heard the noises from. The next thing he knew, there was a small pricking sensation in his neck.  
  
"What da hell?" he exclaimed, putting his hand to his neck. "Whoa, I feel kinda weird. . ."  
  
Barret felt himself losing consciousness, and he keeled over forwards to smack into the wall.  
  
"Barret? Reno?" Tifa called into the darkness. "Are you guys still there?"  
  
Then she heard the sound, like somebody blowing through a straw, and something hit her in the neck. It felt like an insect bite, but she knew what it was, having experienced it once already. She'd just been stung by one of the poisonous thorns of the Flower of Vengeance. The sound she'd heard, like somebody blowing through a straw. . .*or through a blowpipe* she thought as her mind began swimming in and out of consciousness. She fell forward on to her knees. In a desperate last act, Tifa reached down to claw at her PHS, to call the others for help. The antidote was back on the Highwind. . .they'd have to bring it to her. She tried to recall Cid's number from her increasingly fogged brain. Keying in the numbers, she had just one left to press when her trembling fingers lost their grip on the PHS and it clattered to the floor. Tifa slumped forward and blacked out. 


	13. Secret Laboratory

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FF7 OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS

Chapter Twelve

"Hang on a minute, tell me again why we're doing this?" asked Elena for about the eighteenth time.

Words failed Cid. He searched around for a suitable swear word but nothing came to mind. He couldn't believe just how completely _dumb_ this blonde could be at times. He settled for snapping at Rude, "You tell her!"

". . ." said Rude, shrugging his shoulders.

"It is very simple, Elena," said Red XIII through gritted teeth, feeling his own almost limitless patience nearly at an end. "We are taking the back staircase to the upper levels of the Shinra building so as to avoid detection. There are no security cameras or guards here."

"But – " Elena began.

"But what?" Cid groaned.

"Well, isn't this just a little too easy?" she asked.

"Hojo is too over-confident; it has probably never occurred to him," Red answered.

". . . or he may have set a trap. . ." said Rude.

Cid frowned, "That's possible. Well, you two should know this place like your own house, so if anything seems wrong or out of place, speak up."

". . ." Rude agreed.

They climbed the stairs for a few more minutes, until Cid grabbed the banister and wheezed, "What floor are we on now? I've _really_ gotta quit smokin'!"

"45th floor," said Elena. "Only 15 to go."

Cid gave a low moan and staggered onwards, a few steps behind the others.

* * *

"Sir, the evacuation of the Nibel reactor is complete!"

Hojo turned to face the grunt at the door, and smirked, "Good. That facility would have been too difficult to defend. The AVALANCHE won't find anything there now but an empty building. Still, that reactor served me well, and once the AVALANCHE are no more and I rule the Planet unopposed, I will have it restored to its former glory."

"One other thing, sir."

"Yes?"  
"The airship Highwind was spotted landing in Midgar about an hour ago. Its present location is unknown, but we'd have seen it take off, so it must still be on the ground."

"Find it and destroy it."

"Yessir!"

* * *

As they passed a sign reading '60th floor' Cid gave a sigh of relief, then promptly collapsed in a heap by the wall.

"Bit out of shape, are you?" Elena said tactlessly.

"I'll be fine," Cid panted. "I just need a – need a – "

He patted the various pockets of his flight jacket but they were empty.

"$%^&%^!!" he yelled. "I'm out of smokes!!"

". . .quiet. . ." Rude said. "Somebody will hear you."

"Dammit, dammit all to hell," Cid cursed. "As if things hadn't got bad enough, I'm out of smokes…"

"You can get some later," said Elena. "What are we going to do now?"

"Who cares?" Cid lamented. "What's the world coming to if I can't have my smokes?"

"I suggest we head for the laboratory on the 66th floor," said Red. "If they are not to be found there, we will hopefully discover a clue of some kind."

"I could have sworn I had two full packs this morning…" Cid was saying.

"WILL YOU SHUT UP ABOUT YOUR STUPID SMOKES!!!" Elena yelled. "Do you want us to be discovered by Hojo?"

Cid grumbled under his breath and gave her a foul glare. He got to his feet and polished the tip of the Venus Gospel with his pilot's scarf, "All right, kids. I'll lead the way. We'll be outnumbered so don't start a fight unless it's unavoidable."

He glanced out at the foyer of the 60th floor, "There's a couple of guards, but they're not even looking in this direction. They're just sitting drinking their tea. Dammit, wish I could have some tea. Anyway, they won't see us if we're quiet. Rude, you'll have no problems there. Elena, think you can keep your mouth shut for long enough to get across to the elevators?"

Elena opened her mouth to retort, but then realised she'd be falling straight into his trap. She closed her mouth and just folded her arms, smirking.

"Let's go," said Cid.

Silently they made their way across the room, past the two guards who were engaged in conversation. As the heroes approached the elevator doors, something the guards were saying caught Red's ear.

"Where did you say they'd taken them?" the first guard was asking. "66th floor?"

"No, the Professor's built a new secret laboratory," said the other. "I don't know where it is, exactly, but I heard a rumour that - "

He was cut off as his communicator buzzed. Switching it to transmit, he said, "Yes sir?"

The voice on the other end was too garbled for Red to make out, but the guard nodded his head and said, "Yes sir, on my way!"

The guards got to their feet and began running towards the stairs. The elevator arrived and the doors slid open silently. Red and the others got in. The doors closed and Red announced, "I think they were talking about Cloud and the others. One of them mentioned a secret laboratory."

"You sure?" said Cid dubiously. "I couldn't make out anything they were saying."

"You do not have a feline's sense of hearing," Red told him. "I was not able to tell where this laboratory is, exactly. Perhaps Rude or Elena would know of any secret rooms in this building."

". . ." said Rude uncertainly.

"We discovered a couple of bomb shelters that the Shinra family never told anyone about," Elena said. "Down underneath the basement. Maybe Hojo's using one of those."

"He won't have had time to construct a full laboratory in the short while he has been in control of this building," Red reasoned. "He must be using an existing facility."

"Unless he had it built ages ago, before the Sephiroth trouble," Cid suggested. "Without telling anyone about it. He could have just moved straight back in."

". . .I don't think so. . ." said Rude. "Hojo was a powerful man in the Shinra corporation, but nothing happened in this building without the President knowing about it."

"Well, let's just go to the 66th floor labs and look for clues there," said Cid. 

They agreed on that, and each of them took on a fighting stance as the elevator arrived at floor 66.

The doors opened and they quickly scoured the room before them. A few scientists sat at desks, most of them reading or writing documents, peering through microscopes, or working with test tubes and chemicals of various colours. There was no sign of Hojo, or their friends.

"They are not here," said Red. "Do you think we should ask one of these people where we might find them?"

"Nah, they'll be Hojo's flunkies," said Cid, turning to face the Turks. "Where d'you reckon we oughta try now?"

"…the basement?" Rude suggested. "It's possible that Hojo could have converted one of the old storage rooms."

Cid groaned loudly, but thankfully none of the scientists heard him.

"Don't tell me we gotta trudge down all those stairs again!"

"I guess we can use the elevator this time," Red shrugged. "It seems safe enough."

Elena punched the button for the basement and they waited as the elevator slid silently down the side of the building.

* * *

When Cloud next woke, the overhead light was shining unbearably brightly in his eyes, and he had a splitting headache. Holding his hands in front of his eyes, and pressing his knuckles against his forehead, he battled against the pain. He had to remain fully focused and alert for whatever Hojo had in store for him, and for any opportunity for escape that might present itself.

As his eyes adjusted to the light, he moved his hands away to see what was happening in the room outside his cage. Hojo and two other men were there. He couldn't hear anything, but Hojo was obviously giving orders to the other two. Cloud glanced down to see Yuffie still curled up asleep beside him. This time she was sleeping naturally rather than lying unconscious from being hit. He looked over to the other side; Vincent didn't appear to have moved from the last time he'd seen him. As Cloud looked over, the raven-haired man appeared to sense he was being watched, and his red eyes opened to fix on Cloud's. The two men looked at each other for a moment or two, but there was no way to communicate between them, so Vincent shut his eyes once more and appeared to have gone back to sleep.

Cloud turned back round as he heard the door to his cage being opened. Hojo beckoned impatiently to him to come out. He moved to wake Yuffie but Hojo shook his head and snapped, "Forget her! She is unimportant!"

Cloud had no choice but to walk to the door, ducking his head to leave the confines of the cage.

"Bring him to my office," Hojo said in a weary voice, gesturing that the two men should grab Cloud.

Although he was exhausted and weaponless, Cloud was still able to put up a fight. As the first reached to grab his arm, Cloud instinctively grabbed the man's wrist, twisted it sideways and flung the man over his shoulder to collide with the wall. The second man snarled angrily at him and aimed a punch, but Cloud ducked it easily, and with a right hook he sent the man sprawling. Both the men lay unconscious and now there was only Hojo to deal with. One defenceless scientist shouldn't be too much trouble, Cloud told himself. He knew he was wrong when he saw Hojo, who had his back to Cloud, spin round impossibly fast to deliver a devastating punch to Cloud's stomach. Only a lightning-fast dive to one side avoided the blow, and Cloud rolled over to see Hojo walking towards him, his face wearing the same icy, malevolent stare as always. That was, however, the only thing about him that hadn't changed. His entire body seemed to have – grown – he had to be four or five inches taller than he had been before, and powerful muscles protruded from his previously frail figure. As Hojo narrowed his poison-green eyes at Cloud, the swordsman knew he had only chance – run. Pushing off from the wall, he sprinted towards the room's only door, but again Hojo reacted impossibly quickly to snake out an arm, punching Cloud in the side of the head, sending him spinning back towards the cage he had just left. He lost consciousness and collapsed senseless at Hojo's feet.

* * *

As the elevator continued its progress down the side of the Shinra building, somewhat slower than they would have liked, Rude said to Cid, "…perhaps you should contact Reno and see how he is doing."

"Might as well," Cid agreed.

Unclipping his PHS from his belt, he called Tifa's number and waited for her to answer. After ten rings, it became evident she was not available.

"No answer?" said Red.

"Nope. Damn, I hope they're OK," Cid sighed.

He put his PHS back in place as Elena announced they had just arrived at the basement. The doors opened and Rude frowned, "…"

"This is new," said Elena, looking around. "Hojo has totally changed this area."

"Perhaps his secret laboratory is to be found here," Red said hopefully.

"Let's have a look around," said Cid, reaching behind his bandanna for a cigarette, then cursing when he remembered he hadn't got any.

He settled for polishing the Venus Gospel's tip with his scarf once more, and led the rest out into the basement complex. Not wanting to raise the alarm if it could be avoided, they took a more stealthy approach than usual. Cid hated sneaking around, but in unknown territory it was their only option. Once or twice they had to hide in empty rooms while people walked past, but they managed to find their way around the basement floor without really bumping into anybody.

"Over there," Red said eventually. "That door. The sign says 'Private Laboratory. No admittance to anyone without prior clearance from Professor Hojo'."

"Bingo! That's what we're looking for!" Cid exclaimed.

They walked over to the door. As might have been expected, it was locked. In no mood to waste time, Cid smashed the lock with the shaft of the Venus Gospel, and kicked the door open. The room inside was dark and he fumbled about for a lightswitch, eventually finding one and flicking the lights on.

"Yuffie! Vincent!"

Red bounded over to try and free his friends from the glass cages.

"I think they are sleeping," he said.

"Can't they hear us?" Elena asked.

"The glass must be soundproofed. I cannot open this cage."

Cid looked around in the room in the hope that there might be some smokes lying around, but there weren't any.

"Well, there's a door, so it must open somehow," he said, pointing to the cage Yuffie was in. "Besides, they got _in_ there, didn't they? They must be able to get _out_ again."

"Logically, yes," the lion replied. "There must be some mechanism for opening the cages. Take a look around the room."

They glanced around for a few moments until Rude pointed to the wall behind Cid, "…a control panel."

"Yes, that ought to be it," said Red, padding across to stand in front of the panel. "It looks to be an ordinary six-digit pass-code system. We simply need to punch in the correct sequence of numbered buttons."

"Six numbers? There could be a million combinations!" Cid yelled.

"To be precise, there are 151,200 combinations," Red told him. "We clearly cannot try them all."

"Can't we just smash this code panel and open up the internal circuitry so I can use that to open the cages?"

"That is a risky strategy. If something goes wrong we may never be able to get them open."

Elena tapped them both on the shoulder, "I think your friend is trying to tell us something."

Both of them turned round to see Vincent, standing up in his enclosure, beckoning them to come closer. They walked over.

"What's up, Vince?" Cid asked.

Vincent pointed to his ears, then the glass. He mouthed the word _soundproofed_. Red nodded to indicate his understanding. Vincent held up four fingers. Cid looked confused, "Huh? I don't understand. What's he – ?"

"Quiet," said Red. "I think he is trying to tell us the pass-code. That was a four."

Vincent held up a splayed hand.

"Five."

Two fingers.

"Two."

A thumb and index finger making a circle.

"Zero."

Seven fingers.

"Seven."

One finger.

"One," Red finished. "Rude, please enter 452071."

"…" the bald man acknowledged, leaning down to punch in the numbers. 

Cid gave a cry of triumph as the cage doors slid open, and Vincent glided out to stand beside him.

"It is good to see you again," he said in a moment of rare emotion.

"Yeah, you too," said Cid. "Rude, Elena, can you get Yuffie out of there and wake her up? Vincent, where's Cloud?"

"I don't know. Hojo was here – he took Cloud with him."

"When was that?"

"A while ago. I have slept since."

"Hey, Cid!" Yuffie greeted him like a favourite uncle. "You got us out of there, huh?"

"Shucks, it was nothing," said Cid with false modesty. "You know where Cloud is?"

"Nope. I didn't even see him go."

"We had better locate him before Hojo does something terrible," Red urged.

Cid nodded, "Right. I'll try calling Tifa again to let her know our situation."

"I must find the Death Penalty," Vincent decided. "For I am little use without my weapon."

"Yeah, I want my Conformer back too," Yuffie added.

"We shall cover you," said Red.

He and the two Turks led the way out of the room to begin a search for Vincent and Yuffie's stolen equipment. Cid followed behind, still trying to get an answer on the PHS.

"Cid, any luck?" Elena called.

"Nope, dammit," Cid cursed. "It's weird. Her phone's ringing, but she won't answer."

"Try calling Barret too."

"I did. He won't pick up either."

"I just hope they aren't in any danger."


	14. Deal with the Devil

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FF7 OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS

Chapter Thirteen

When Cloud awoke, the first thing that struck him was the blinding brightness in the room. After a few moments, however, he realised that the lighting was no brighter than normal, it was just his eyes struggling to adjust to the sudden illumination, combined with his splitting headache. He shook his head to try and clear it, and sat up. Where was he? He found himself lying on a wooden table in a laboratory of some sort. At the far end of the room, leaning over a bench, engrossed in some experiment, was their arch-enemy: Hojo. He didn't seem to have noticed that Cloud had woken up, and Cloud hurriedly looked around the room for something that he might be able to use to knock Hojo out, and make his escape. On the bench nearest him was a heavy metal container. Cloud slipped off the table and padded over silently towards the container. Picking it up with both hands, he carefully tested its weight, then crept round the side of the bench to approach Hojo from behind and slightly to the left, where he was least likely to be seen. He looked around the room to check where the exits were, in case somebody happened to walk in while he was sneaking up on Hojo. Perfect, he thought, there was only one door and he would be able to see anybody approaching it from outside long before they saw him. He returned his attention to Hojo. The scientist still hadn't moved. Cloud crept closer. Suddenly Hojo looked up, and Cloud hastily ducked behind a bench, but Hojo didn't notice a thing, merely turning round to pick up a lab report from the table behind him. Cloud stayed still for a few more moments, to make sure Hojo's attention had fully returned to his work. When he was sure, he stood up once more, and stealthily crept the last few steps until he was standing directly behind Hojo. Raising the heavy container, Cloud brought it down on the scientist's head. 

With astonishing speed, Hojo turned to grab the metal canister out of Cloud's hands, and casually throw it to one side.

"Idiot," the scientist snapped. "Did you think I couldn't hear your every move? You miserable failure."

Cloud, driven by a burst of uncontrollable anger, threw a punch at Hojo's chin, but his enemy blocked the blow easily, and hooked Cloud's legs from underneath him, causing the swordsman to land painfully on the floor.

"Fool," Hojo sneered. "Now sit down somewhere and don't make any noise. I will deal with you when I am finished this experiment."

Cloud got back to his feet. Hojo turned his attention back to the microscope in front of him, and Cloud automatically looked towards the tantalisingly open door. Could he make a break for it? Would Hojo be able to pursue him?

"If you're thinking about running, don't waste your energy or my time," Hojo sighed impatiently. "You really are so predictable. Four armed guards are waiting outside, just around the corner. Sit on that seat and be silent!"

Cloud's head still throbbed with pain, and he couldn't really bring himself to think too clearly at the moment. Certainly he was in no condition to concoct a brilliant escape plan, so he decided to play along with Hojo just now, and went to sit on the chair. If Hojo wanted to talk, Cloud might be able to coax some useful information out of him, if he played his cards cleverly enough. He sat in the uncomfortable wooden chair and tried to ease the pain in his head.

A couple of minutes later, Hojo raised his head from the microscope, muttered something to himself, and made a couple of notes on a pad of paper. Then he looked up, pushed his glasses up to stop them slipping down his nose, and faced Cloud.

"The only reason that I have kept you alive thus far is because I want to offer you a proposition."

This ought to be good, Cloud thought. He couldn't possibly imagine what deal Hojo was going to offer to his worst enemy, that he actually imagined Cloud might accept.

"And that would be?" was all he said.

"I want you to join me," Hojo said simply.

Cloud was sure he had misheard. He stared at Hojo for a good number of seconds, then burst out laughing. Even with his pounding headache, trapped without hope of escape inside his enemy's lair, he still managed to throw back his head and roar with laughter. He was brought back to normality as Hojo smacked him about the head.

"Take this seriously, you fool!" the scientist snapped.

"Hojo, if the only reason you were keeping me alive was to ask me _that_, you're even dumber than I gave you credit for!"

"Then you refuse?"

"Of course I refuse! There's nothing you could possibly offer that would make me even remotely consider joining you!"

"Don't be so sure," Hojo smirked.

"I'm not interested in money or power, Hojo, and there's precious little else you can offer me. You really are wasting your time."

"What about Aeris?"

Cloud's expression became serious at the mention of the dead Cetra who had so often been at the forefront of his thoughts over the last three months or so. He missed her with an intense, unbearable sorrow that at times threatened to overwhelm his happy existence with Tifa.

"What _about_ Aeris?" he asked cautiously.

"What if I told you I could bring her back?"

Cloud sat bolt upright in his chair. How many times had he wished that he could have had Aeris back among his friends? How many times had he sat and wondered if he couldn't have done more to stop Sephiroth from killing her? How many times had he told himself that he'd give anything to have her alive again? He looked at Hojo, "You're lying. It's impossible."

"It's not impossible. I have done extensive research into cloning. You yourself were part of the Sephiroth cloning project. I even managed to clone myself. Remember your battle on top of the Sister Ray? You all thought I had been defeated, when I had succeeded in utterly deceiving you."

"So that was your clone," Cloud realised. "But that doesn't mean you can bring Aeris back. I don't know as much about cloning as you do, but I know that a clone would only be a replica of her physical body. It wouldn't have any of her memories or feelings, anything of what made her Aeris."

"That's where you're wrong," Hojo said triumphantly. "A clone of an ordinary person, like you, would indeed be merely a physical copy. But the clone of an Ancient, like Aeris or Sephiroth, _would_ retain the memories and personality of the original. The research would take longer than my lifetime, but it's something to do with the Ancients' blood. Their DNA – well, their version of DNA – carries so much more than just physical makeup. That's why the Sephiroth cloning project was started, and why we wanted to capture Aeris."

"How do I know you're telling the truth about this? Prove it. Bring her back."

"I will. All I require in return is a little co-operation from you."

Cloud looked at him warily, "What do you mean?"

"A sharing of interests," Hojo said smoothly. "I will give you command of my military forces. You can employ them as you see fit, as long as you obey my orders."

"Why should I trust you? How do I know you won't just have us all killed?"

"If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it already! Why else would I have kept you alive? I just want you out of my way!"

"I don't believe you," Cloud said stubbornly. "You've deceived us in the past, Hojo. I can't trust you."

Hojo narrowed his eyes at him, then said, "Very well. I will come back later and see if you have changed your mind."

He reached over to the bench behind him to pick up a length of rope which he'd obviously kept there for this express purpose. He walked over to stand behind Cloud's chair, and tied the swordsman's arms and legs tightly to the chair's limbs. Cloud could have resisted, but he knew it would be pointless. Hojo was too strong. He'd have to wait until he was alone to try and make his escape. He tested his bonds; they were too tight to afford any movement. He looked up at the sound of the door slamming. Hojo had left the laboratory and Cloud was alone.

* * *

Cid booted the wall with frustration, and took a long draw on his cigarette.

"We've searched this entire building from top to bottom and we haven't seen a single ^%&$ing sign of Cloud!" he announced to the rest of the group.

"That is so," Red concurred. "I cannot think of anywhere else in the building to search. Rude?"

Rude shrugged, "…"

"He may not even be here," Vincent said. "Hojo may have taken him elsewhere."

"Where?"

"He could have gone anywhere, since I don't know how long ago they left."

Yuffie sighed impatiently, "What we gonna do?"

"I think we should go to the Nibel reactor," said Cid. "We haven't a clue where Cloud is, but Tifa and Barret won't answer their PHS. They might be in danger. We can take the Highwind and leave immediately."

"I will stay here," Red decided. "And continue to look for Cloud."

"I'll join you," said Vincent.

"And me!" Yuffie added. "I hate flying!"

"Great," Cid muttered under his breath. "I get to hang around with the Shinra monkeys."

"What was that?" asked Elena.

"Nothing. Let's go."

They headed for the elevator, and Yuffie said to Red, "Okay, where do we start looking? I thought we'd checked the whole place!"

"I want to log into Hojo's computer system," Red told her. "We might find something there."

"The computer room is upstairs. I will lead the way," said Vincent.

* * *

Hojo strode impatiently down the corridor, wishing there was some way he could speed up the process. How he despised that fool Strife. For a moment he considered whether or not he should just kill the idiot, and proceed without him? No. He decided it was too risky. 

"If I kill Strife, it will only make his friends double their efforts to stop me," he muttered to himself. "I need the fool to join me. Then I will be invincible. And he will join me. It's only a matter of time."

Back in the office Cloud closed his eyes and tried to sleep. His headache was still agonising, and he just wanted it to go away. He pondered what Hojo had said. Bring back Aeris? If it were possible, Cloud would have given anything to have her back. But was Hojo lying? Did he really have the ability to resurrect her? If there was one thing certain about Hojo, it was that he was far from trustworthy. But even so…if there was the chance of having Aeris back, was it worth taking the risk and trusting Hojo? He had to admit, Hojo's request had puzzled him. If anything, he had expected Hojo to ask him to betray his friends and lead them into a trap. Why would Hojo want to give Cloud command of his military forces? Besides the fact that Hojo was a useless military leader? It was strange. Why would Hojo ask his worst enemy to join him? Putting Cloud in such a position of power would simply put Hojo in danger, since Cloud could betray him at any moment. It didn't make any sense. Maybe Hojo had just lost his marbles? No, he had to be planning something. But Cloud couldn't see for the life of him what it was. One thing was for sure, though: Cloud knew he'd do anything to have Aeris back.

* * *

Tifa regained consciousness. She lay on her back in pitch blackness. Where was she? Her mind was fogged with weariness and confusion, as she tried to piece together her thoughts to remember what had happened. Cloud? Where was Cloud? Had she been with him? Her entire body was racked with fatigue, and she could barely move. Something strange was going on. Then she remembered. The poisoned dart. The flower of vengeance. She was once again infected with the deadly toxin. But that didn't make any sense. Why was she awake? It had sent her into a deep coma last time. She tried to sit up and get her bearings, but the effort was too much, and she collapsed back on to the floor, blacking out once more.

* * *

From the entrance of the Nibel reactor strode a solitary figure, wrapped in a thick grey travelling cloak, a few wisps of grey hair protruding from beneath the hood. Ignoring the five soldiers lying unconscious by the stairs, the figure walked on towards the mountain pass.

"So he has discovered the Flower," the cloaked figure muttered. "He has become too powerful. His crude methods will not last. I must journey east and stop my son from destroying the world."

The figure walked on. From their belt hung a blowpipe, and beside that a thick bag of poisoned darts bounced gently against the figure's thigh with each step.

* * *

Deep in the Junon mountains south of Midgar, the Highwind lay safely hidden under the partial cover of a rocky outcropping. On the deck Marlene Wallace sat alone, bored. Daddy and the others had been gone for _ages_ and there was nothing to do on the Highwind. She wasn't allowed to leave the ship; Daddy had said it was too dangerous. He'd argued with Uncle Cid for a long time about something, but Marlene hadn't been listening; she'd been too busy keeping an eye on that scary lion in case it tried to eat her. She'd had a bad dream about lions the night before, and lions weren't supposed to _talk_. It was too weird.

But now she was on her own, and she was very bored. She made a mental note to tell Uncle Cid that there wasn't enough to do on his ship. Maybe she should ask him to get some more books, or a TV. Sitting on the deck watching the scenery wasn't much fun, because nothing was moving. A ship had flown by overhead a few hours ago, but that was the most exciting thing that had happened. It had been quite a big ship; not as big as the Highwind though. It had been silver and had 'Hojo' written on the side. Maybe it was the same Hojo that Daddy and the others had been talking about non-stop. Marlene wasn't interested in any of that; she just wanted something to play with. Maybe she'd ask Daddy to get her a kitten.

It was getting very late by the time that Cid and the two Turks got back to the Highwind. They found Marlene sitting in the Operations room, drawing on a pad of paper she'd found in the cupboard.

"Uncle Cid!" she exclaimed when she saw them. "Are you all right? You didn't get hurt, did you?"

"I'm fine, sweetie," said Cid. "Did you look after the Highwind for me?"

"Yup. I was a bit bored, though. I think you need some more books."

"Tell you what, I'll go to the Midgar library first chance I get."

She smiled and Cid reached into his pocket for a cigarette, then remembered that he wasn't allowed to smoke when he was around Marlene. He nearly swore, then remembered he wasn't around to curse when she was around either. He managed to keep his cool, and headed for the door, planning to sneak down to the lower deck for a quick smoke. In the doorway he bumped into Rude.

"Hey," said Cid uneasily, still not 100% happy about the presence of the Turks on his ship. "What's on your mind?"

"…" said Rude. "Reno and the others. Do you think Hojo has captured them?"

Cid shrugged, "Dunno. Wish we knew where Hojo was. He's just vanished into thin air and taken Cloud with him."

"Who's Hojo?" Marlene asked brightly.

"He's the guy who made you sick," said Cid. "He's trying to conquer the Planet and we have to stop him."

Congratulating himself on his clichéd response, he was only half-listening when Marlene said, "I saw a ship that said Hojo on it. D'you think it's the same guy?"

"You what?" said Cid. "When was that, honey?"

"Dunno. Few hours ago."

"Which way was it headed?"

"South-west. Daddy taught me how to tell the compass points from the stars," she said proudly.

Cid and Rude exchanged glances and the stoic Turk said, "…south-west?"

"Junon, maybe?" Cid guessed. "Hell – I mean heck – knows why he'd be heading there. Does he have a facility in Junon?"

"…the underwater reactor?" Rude suggested. "There was a small research department there, but I don't know if Hojo ever worked in it."

"Must be where he's taken Cloud," Cid decided. "We'd better get down there and see if we can find them."

"…are you sure? We don't know for certain that they'll be there. And we said we'd go and help Reno and Tifa."

Cid cursed under his breath as he was faced by the dilemma. With only one ship, they couldn't do both. He had to make the decision quickly, and he had to make it the right one.

"…I'll be up top with Elena," said Rude. "You must decide soon."

The Turk left the room and Cid once again felt the need for a smoke to calm himself down. He forced himself to wait until he was alone.

"What the hell should we do?!?" he muttered to himself.


	15. Cloud's Dilemma

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FF7 OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS

Chapter Fourteen

Cloud hadn't been aware of falling asleep but he must have nodded off at some point, as he found himself being shaken awake by Hojo.

"Wake up!" the scientist demanded. "Have you thought over my proposal?"

Cloud's mind wasn't at its best, though the aching throb in his head did seem to have lessened. He struggled to make sense of what Hojo was saying. Proposal? What proposal? Then he remembered.

"Ugh," he mumbled, opening his eyes to see Hojo's poison green eyes piercing into him through the thick spectacles.

"Well?"

Cloud shook his head, "I don't trust you, Hojo. I still don't believe it's possible."

"Of course it is possible!" Hojo snapped. "If it were not possible, why would I be offering it as a bargaining tool? Why would I be keeping you alive?"

"Beats me. Personally I think you've cracked."

Hojo smacked him about the head, "Fool! I told you to take this seriously."

"Besides, if you brought Aeris back, you'd just kidnap her again so you could do experiments on her."

"No, I wouldn't. All I need for my research purposes is a sample of her blood. I had one taken when she was…under my care…in the Shinra research lab. That is what I will use to clone her."

"It's _really_ possible?"

"Of course it is!"

"Prove it."

Hojo gave an impatient sigh, "I already have! Don't you remember when I mentioned your battle on top of the Sister Ray in Midgar? That was my clone! Proof that this technology works! You yourself were part of the Sephiroth-cloning experiment! Isn't _that_ proof enough?"

"I – I guess so," said Cloud hesitantly. "It still doesn't mean I should trust you."

"You can trust me."

"I – I want some more time to think about it."

"Very well."

Hojo left the room and Cloud tried to collect his thoughts. _Was_ it possible to bring back Aeris in both body and spirit, due to the fact that she was an Ancient? It sounded plausible, but could easily be a lie. Unless – of course! He remembered now! He remembered standing on the Highwind's deck and desperately trying to recall what it was that Aeris had told him. Now he remembered. She'd told him, one night when they were journeying east of Midgar, that an Ancient's blood carried their thoughts and personality as well as their genetic information. So it _was_ true, what Hojo had said. Bringing Aeris back _was_ possible. Cloud could almost feel her close to him as he thought about what it would be like when they had her with them once more. All he had to do was join Hojo. But could he trust Hojo?

__

Yes. You can trust him.

"Huh?!? Who's that?" Cloud said out loud.

__

It doesn't matter. Just listen to Hojo.

"Aeris? Is that you?"

__

I told you, it doesn't matter. Don't think about me. Think about you. You and Aeris.

"No, wait, who are you? How come you can speak in my head? That's like – "

__

Like what?

" – like Jenova!"

__

Jenova is dead, remember? Don't worry. You can trust Hojo.

"How do you know?"

__

Don't talk. Just listen. You can trust Hojo.

"Can I?"

__

Yes. He will bring back Aeris. Isn't that what you want?

"I – I – "

__

You must trust Hojo!

"Stop it! Leave me alone! Get out of my head!"

__

I will. For now. You must think over the proposition.

Cloud waited for several moments but the voice did not recur, and he assumed it was gone. That had been creepy. The voice in his head; exactly the same as those terrible times when he was being controlled by Jenova. He'd thought that his fall into the Lifestream had cured him of that, and besides, Jenova was dead. It couldn't be her. Then who? Aeris? Was she communicating with him in some way? Was she still out there somewhere, existing as Spirit Energy, desperate to return to physical form so she could be her friends once more? Was she even now urging Cloud to trust Hojo so that she could be brought back? That sounded possible, and it was an attractive proposition. He didn't fully understand how the life-death cycle of the Ancients worked – probably no living person did – but he knew they were different from humans in many ways. If only the owner of the voice would tell him who they were…he'd feel a lot more comfortable knowing who it was.

Cloud decided to stop worrying about that for now, and concentrated on how he might get out of here. Escape on his own seemed unlikely. Maybe he could pretend to agree to Hojo's proposition, lull the scientist into a false sense of security, then make a break for it at the first opportunity. No, Hojo wasn't dumb. He'd have planned against that possibility. Still, it might be worth a try. His only other hope was that Reno, Cid and the others might somehow find out where he was, and come to find him. If so, he hoped it would be soon. He wasn't sure how much more time Hojo was going to allow him to come to a decision. He also couldn't work out what Hojo was planning. Making Cloud a military commander wouldn't help the scientist in any way.

"I'm handy in a fight, if I say so myself, and I am leader of the party, but I've no real experience as a military leader," he muttered to himself. "The only time I've done anything like it was when we defended Fort Condor from the Shinra. No, there must be something else Hojo wants out of this."

But what? By offering to resurrect Aeris, Hojo was giving Cloud a lot more than Cloud would be able to give him as general of the army. Hojo had to be trying to trick him in some way, but Cloud couldn't see it. The most obvious answer was that he was lying about bringing back Aeris – either he couldn't or wouldn't do it – but if that turned out to be true, it wouldn't leave Cloud any worse off, or Hojo any better off, than they were now. Cloud decided he had to find out what Hojo's scheme was. If he pretended to accept the offer, then betrayed Hojo, he might able to get back to his friends and continue fighting. But what about Aeris? If Hojo was telling the truth, then Cloud would have to wait until she'd been brought back, then the two of them could make a run for it together. Yes, that sounded like the best plan.

* * *

"All right, I've made up my mind," said Cid, walking over to where the Turks stood on the flight deck.

"…?"

"We'll go back to Nibelheim. Although I reckon getting Cloud away from Hojo is more urgent, you're right that we don't know for sure where they are."

"I just hope Reno hasn't done anything stupid," said Elena. "He's so irresponsible sometimes."

"Well, we'll soon know," said Cid. "Rude, can you flick that lever over there? The red one. Yeah, great. Let's go!"

He put the engines to full power and they were on their way.

At top speed it took them about an hour to get to Mt Nibel. Cid landed the ship in a narrow pass in the mountains, not far away from the reactor, and they prepared to approach it on foot. Elena agreed to stay and watch over Marlene, while Cid and Rude threw down the rope ladder to climb to the ground. Cid still wasn't totally comfortable about being allied with the Turks, and Rude never spoke unless he really, absolutely had to, so there was little or nothing in the way of conversation as they worked their way through the mountain range towards the reactor. It was the middle of the night by the time they reached the Mako reactor, but it was not a cloudy night and there were plenty of stars to provide illumination.

"Five guards," Cid muttered to Rude as they surveyed the reactor from a distance. "Think there'll be more inside?"

"…hard to say."

"Come on, we don't want to waste any time."

Rude followed Cid as he made his way down the rocky slope towards the reactor's front entrance, keeping low and taking advantage of what cover they could, to avoid being seen. Ducking behind a big rock near the entrance to the reactor, they watched the five guards.

"They seem edgy," Cid hissed to Rude. "As if someone's already messed with 'em today."

"…so it seems. Presumably Reno and the others had to deal with them earlier."

"Yeah. Assuming they got this far. Hopefully we'll find 'em soon. Let's go."

Sneaking out from behind the boulder, they took the guards completely by surprise. Cid finished off two with the Venus Gospel while Rude knocked another one unconscious with a perfect punch to the jaw. The remaining two rushed towards the Turk, but Rude was too fast. A swift blow to the neck incapacitated the first one, and Cid speared the other one from behind.

"Drag them behind that rock so no-one finds them," said Cid. "Just hope no-one gets suspicious when they're missing."

They left the unconscious or dead guards behind the large boulder, and hurried to the reactor entrance.

"Okay," Cid said, turning to Rude. "You know Mako reactors, I don't. Where to?"

"…it appears Hojo has altered this facility. My knowledge may be of little use."

"Well, better than nothing. Where do we start?"

"…ground floor?"

For an hour or so they searched the ground floor, finding no trace of their friends, or anyone else for that matter.

"This place seems empty," said Cid. "You think Hojo could have abandoned it and moved to a more secure facility?"

"…either that or it no longer serves any useful purpose," said Rude. "This building would have been where he was growing the first of his genetic soldiers. Perhaps he has constructed another such facility and no longer needs this one."

He fell silent after this uncharacteristically long speech, and Cid shrugged, "Well, let's try the next floor."

After another half hour that concluded that the second floor of the building was also empty. The only logical option was to take the elevator to the floor above. As the doors to the third floor slid open, their eyes immediately lit on the three motionless figures lying on the floor.

"…!"

"Tifa! Barret!" Cid shouted, running over to kneel by his friends. "You guys OK?"

Rude knelt beside Reno and checked his comrade's vital signs, "…he is alive, but only just."

"They asleep or just out cold?"

"…don't know," said Rude, then. "…!"

"What?"

Rude pointed to the tiny dart sticking out of Barret's neck, "…poison?"

"Hope not. Damn, there's one in Tifa's neck too. Has Reno got one?"

"…yes. Do you think it's the flower of vengeance?"

"Do I look like a doctor? Better get 'em back to the ship all the same. Can you manage Reno?"

Rude nodded, and easily lifted the comatose Turk leader on to his shoulders. With much swearing and cursing, Cid managed to sling Barret's heavy frame over his own shoulders, then swore, "This ain't gonna work! How the hell do we get Tifa down to the ship?"

"…we could come back for her."

"Too dangerous. I want to get them all away from here immediately."

"…call the ship and ask them to pick us up here?"

Cid snorted, "You kiddin'? I'd sooner trust Hojo with my ship than let that dumb blonde pilot it! No, there's gotta be another way."

Just then, as luck would have it, Tifa groaned and sat up. She looked weak and sickly, but opened her eyes and managed to croak, "Cid? Rude?"

"You all right?"

"Dunno," she said. "I don't feel good. Someone shot a poison dart at me and – "

"Yeah, they got Barret and Reno too. We're takin' 'em down to the ship. You think you can walk it?"

"I-I'll try."

She struggled to her feet and swayed for a moment or two while she got her bearings. Then, supported by Rude, she followed Cid into the elevator and back down to the ground floor.

* * *

Yuffie was beginning to regret her decision to stay with Red and Vincent at the Shinra building. While the two of them busied themselves with the computer system, Yuffie had little to do. She'd explored the top floors of the building, looking for anything that might be worth 'borrowing', but the place was a bit of a mess and everything valuable appeared to have already been taken or destroyed. After that she'd headed for the executive gym on the 64th floor and worked out for a couple of hours. Still feeling a bit stiff after being cooped up in Hojo's cells, she'd tired sooner than normal, and now lay on one of the beds in the adjoining room, resting. She sighed and muttered to herself, "It's so _boring_ here,"

She figured she'd eventually wander back up and find Vincent and Red, and bug them for a while, then go off on another exploration. The Mayor's office might be worth searching…

Meanwhile Vincent and Red XIII were still concentrating on their examination of the Shinra building's computer system.

"Here," said Red, pointing his paw at the computer screen in front of him. "It would seem Hojo has a small research facility in the underwater reactor at Junon."

"You think he has taken Cloud there?"

"Yes. It would explain why he had the anti-aircraft weapons in Junon activated. He did not want us landing there."

Vincent said nothing, but stirred uneasily and looked behind him as if he expected an enemy to be waiting there.

"Is something wrong? You seem tense," Red remarked.

"I'm just a bit confused," said Vincent. "I don't understand why Hojo has run off like this. I also don't understand why we haven't seen any of his super-soldiers in a while."

"Perhaps they are all dead. After all, there were only a finite number of growth chambers in the Nibel reactor. I doubt Hojo had time to grow more than one or two batches of soldiers at that facility since we defeated Sephiroth."

"We haven't killed that many. There must be some left."

"Maybe he is holding them back, realising they are not as invulnerable as he hoped. He must have underestimated the power of our Limit Breaks."

"Possibly. D'you think he's going to use Cloud as a bargaining chip against us?"

"Do you mean he will threaten to kill Cloud if we don't get out of his way? Yes, that thought had crossed my mind. I don't know what to make of it, to be honest. He hasn't contacted us yet with any demands, so all we can do is try and find him, then see what his plans are."

"So you think he's in the Junon reactor?"

"I do. I think it is time we contacted Cid, and find out what he is doing. We can ask him to pick us up here, then be ready to make our next move."

Vincent nodded his agreement and grabbed his PHS from his belt, calling Cid's number. As he waited for an answer, Yuffie ambled into the room, stretching her arms, looking restless.

"Hey, Red," she greeted him, pulling up a chair to sit next to him in front of the computer. "Whatcha doin'?"

"…it is complicated," the lion replied. "I think it would bore you."

"That's all right, it can't be any more boring than the rest of this building. Come on, clue me in a bit here."

Red sighed and would have spent a fruitless hour trying to explain the workings of the computer system to Yuffie, if he hadn't been interrupted by Vincent. The raven-haired man had just finished his call on the PHS.

"I just spoke to Cid," he told them. "They've found Barret and Tifa."

"Are they OK?" Yuffie asked.

"He thinks so. It seems they were poisoned by the flower of vengeance, but Cid and Rude managed to get to them in time, and there was enough antidote left on the ship to cure them."

Red breathed a sigh of relief, "So we are all safe."

"Except Cloud."

"Yes, except Cloud. We must endeavour to make sure he also is safe. What else did Cid say?"

"He also thinks Hojo might be in Junon," said Vincent. "He's heading there right now, but I asked him to come here and pick us up first."

"When will he get here?"

"Within the hour. Is there anything else we can do here?"

"I do not think so," said Red. "I will continue to check the computer for any useful information on Hojo's research. Perhaps you two could try and work out some plan for rescuing Cloud once we get to Junon."

* * *

__

Cloud.

__

Cloud!

"Hmm? Wha?" he mumbled as he awoke once more.

__

Hojo is coming. He will ask for your decision. Tell him you agree.

"Wait a minute! Who are you?"

__

I told you that doesn't matter.

"Of course it matters! If you want me to do what you say, you've got to let me know who you are first!"

__

Think of me as a guiding spirit.

"Aeris? Is it you?"

__

Don't think about me. Who I am is not important. All that matters is you and Aeris.

"But why can't you tell me – "

__

Hush. Hojo is coming.

"I – "

__

He is coming. You must say yes.

"Yes?" Cloud repeated, beginning to feel slightly light-headed.

__

You must agree to his proposition.

"His proposition…yes, his proposition……hey, wait a minute!"

__

I must go. Hojo is coming.

"Just a second! Tell me – "

__

He is here!

The voice disappeared as the door to the room swung open and Hojo entered.

"I have come to ask for your decision," he said, trying to keep the impatience out of his voice.

"My decision…"

Cloud's head was swimming and he felt horribly dizzy, as if he was about to faint. He remained conscious, however, and managed to focus his eyes on Hojo's.

"I – " he began. "I – can't – no – I – I agree. I agree to your proposition."

Hojo might have been smiling in response, but Cloud couldn't make it out through his blurred vision. His dizziness and nausea became worse, and he felt himself on the verge of blacking out.

"Very well," Hojo responded. "You will join me. And I will bring back your friend. So be it. I will return in one hour."

He left the room, closing the door behind him. Cloud struggled to stay conscious, and managed to fight back the wave of giddiness that threatened to overwhelm him. Putting his head between his knees, he focused his eyes on a spot on the floor and forced himself to stay awake. Once he felt he was no longer in danger of fainting, he sat upright, and stared at the door through which Hojo had just left.

"Aeris," he whispered. "Aeris…please let me have made the right decision."

If he'd made the wrong decision, he had no way of knowing what Hojo had in store for him or his friends. Only time would tell.


	16. Tricked and Trapped

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FF7 OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS

Chapter Fifteen

The entire party, minus Cloud, were gathered in the Highwind's operations room while the ship was en route to Junon. Cid had taken temporary command since Reno and Tifa were still feeling a little sickly after the effects of the poison. Antidote had been administered to both of them plus Barret, and all three seemed to be safely on course for a full recovery. Right now the party was discussing the best way to get into Junon to rescue Cloud. 

"Obviously taking the Highwind in isn't a great idea," Cid was saying. "Hojo has too many anti-aircraft defences. It's possible we could make a quick raid if we take him by surprise…"

"I don't think we can count on taking him by surprise," said Vincent. "He has managed to fool us successfully up until now. We can't make any assumptions or take any chances."

"I agree," Red added. "I think our best – if not only – option is to land the Highwind somewhere in the mountains and approach Junon on foot. We must attack by stealth."

"…and what if he threatens to kill Cloud if we get too close to him?" Rude asked.

Cid sighed, "That's the real crux of the problem, isn't it? We can only guess what his plans are regarding Cloud. To be honest, I think our only option is to go in and try to get him out. What happens after that will depend on Hojo's response. Our best hope is to move swiftly enough that we can back him into a corner so the only responses he has are ones that work in our favour."

"I hope Cloud is okay," said Yuffie.

Tifa frowned, "I don't think we ought to go rushing in. I know speed is important, but I think we ought to do at least a preliminary reconnaissance of the area first. If there are any super soldiers around, I'd rather know about them beforehand."

"I'd agree with that," said Reno. "The way I see it, we need three groups: first, a scouting party; second, an attacking force made up of our strongest fighters; and third, and a group of long-range fighters to provide support and look out for attacks."

Barret looked as if he wanted to argue, but he couldn't see anything wrong with the suggestion, so he kept his dislike of Reno to himself and didn't raise a complaint. Cid was having similar feelings, but he knew they had to work together with the Turks if they were going to have any chance of success.

"Sounds about right," he said grudgingly. "All right, here's how we'll split up. There's nine of us, which is pretty handy for three groups. Our scouts will be Red XIII – obviously – and Reno and Rude, since you two have a lot of experience with police work."

The two male Turks nodded their agreement. Cid continued, "Our three strongest fighters: well, that's obviously Barret, Tifa and me. We'll make up the main invasion force. Vincent, Yuffie and Elena can provide the long-range backup. Any questions?"

"Yeah, I got one," said Barret. "Wha' about Marlene? I wasn' exactly happy 'bout you leavin' her alone on the ship last time, and I don' wanna do the same thing again."

"Not to worry," Cid told him. "I already contacted Reeve. Hojo seems to have abandoned Midgar for the moment, so Reeve has got his people bringing the city back into working order. He says he'll be free for a day or two until the city needs its mayor again. He agreed to look after Marlene; he'll be with us within the hour."

"If Hojo's abandoned Midgar, that means he's on the run!" Elena exclaimed. "That means we're winning, doesn't it?" 

Barret was less happy, "An hour? Can we afford to waste tha' much time?"

Cid shrugged, "Not much choice; that's how long it's going to take us to get to Junon anyway. There's a strong wind blowing north-east, and even with the new engine, the ship's having difficulty making any headway."

Red sighed mournfully, "It would seem even the elements are against us."

* * *

About an hour later…

Leaving Reeve on the ship with Marlene (he'd brought the Cait Sith doll to try and keep her amused) the nine party members travelled the rest of the way to Junon on foot. Tifa, Reno and Barret were feeling almost as good as new by this point, and felt more than ready to take part in a battle if necessary. On the outskirts of the town, they paused and considered how they might approach the airbase.

"Walking in via the main road clearly isn't conducive to our survival," said Cid dryly. "Any ideas?"

"We could also do what we did the first time we came here," said Tifa.

Cid, Vincent and the Turks gave her blank looks.

"Would you mind explaining that for those of us who weren't in the party at the time?" asked Vincent.

"Sure, sorry," said Tifa. "At the time we were only able to enter Junon from the ground. The airbase was on a level above us, and the elevator up was guarded so we couldn't use it."

"So how did you get up?" asked Cid.

"There's an electricity pylon standing in the shallow water by the shore. We suggested Cloud climb up there and take a first look around before the rest of us tried to follow."

"As I recall, that electricity pylon held live wires and was extremely dangerous," Red pointed out. "It would be extremely risky to try that route again."

Reno shook his head, "No, it'll be all right. That pylon would have been part of a line that stretched all the way to one of the Midgar reactors. Now that the Junon airbase is run using solar power and hydro-electric generators, the pylon won't be use in any more. It should be completely safe."

"That's our way in, then," Cid said confidently. "Let's go!"

With their three scouts moving a few hundred yards ahead of the rest to check for danger, the party approached the small fishing village which had been renamed Old Junon since the Shinra had moved out. They got to the edge of the village without encountering any enemies, but before they could go any further, Red's fur stood on end and he waved his paw to tell the others to stop.

As they had expected, the elevator entrance was heavily guarded. Three super soldiers were patrolling the area surrounding the elevator, following overlapping patterns that ensured none of the three was ever out of sight of both of the others.

"This ain't gonna be easy," Cid whispered to the rest as they crouched behind a low wall and watched the soldiers.

"Let's take them on. It's only three!" Yuffie suggested, unstrapping the Conformer from its place on her back.

"I would not recommend that course of action," Red growled.

"I dunno," said Reno. "Anyone got a Limit Break ready?"

"…me."

"My Catastrophe's ready to go, too."

"Anyone else?"

There was silence. Cid shook his head, "Two's not enough."

"Can we get down to the beach unnoticed?" asked Vincent.

"Not all at once. We'll need to go in groups. Scouts, fighters, then shooters."

They watched the enemies for a few more minutes until it became clear that the soldiers were sticking fairly rigidly to a predefined patrol route. It meant that there was a window of opportunity of a good few second when none of the guards was looking at the path that led down to the beach. Red timed the soldiers' marching carefully, then, when the moment was right, he leapt from their hiding place and ran at top speed towards the beach. The two Turks were right behind him, and they managed to pelt down the stairs on to the beach, passing out of sight just before the guards could spot them.

"Close," Barret whispered.

"Too close," Cid grimaced. "It's going to be even closer for us. Neither of us is as fast on our feet as those three."

Tifa slotted a materia into the wrist band of her Premium Heart and looked at them, "Yes, but that's what a Time materia is for. Hold still while I cast Haste."

She cast the spell on the six remaining party members, then they hunkered down and waited for their next chance to make a break for the beach. The three soldiers followed the same patrol routes almost religiously, without a pause, not even stopping to yawn or stretch their arms for a moment. This led Tifa to wonder whether they weren't more like mindless robots than humans. They certainly weren't a natural life-form, instead they were yet another product of Hojo's madness. The fact that the scientist was using the transmitter in his brain to dictate their actions meant they were little more than drones with no choices or control over their lives. Just more helpless beings suffering because of Hojo.

"Five seconds to go," Cid broke into her thoughts as he watched the guards intently. "Four, three, two, one – go!"

He vaulted the wall and ran as fast as he could towards the beach steps. Even with the Haste spell, he still felt as if he was going far too slowly. He was convinced he wouldn't make it in time, that the guards would turn, see him, and attack, but then his feet hit the stone staircase and he was running down towards the shore. Tifa was in front of him, Barret behind, and there had been no shout from the soldiers, nothing to indicate that they'd been spotted. Cid sank on to his hands and knees in the sand and coughed, "I really need to quit smokin'!"

"Well, you haven't had one in the last 48 hours," said Tifa. "See if you can keep it going. Wait, here come the others."

Vincent, Yuffie and Elena were sprinting down the steps easily, the Haste spell only making it look more effortless.

"Huh. All right for them youngsters," Cid grunted.

Once the party had gathered on the sand, he said, "All right, we're down. We'll go up one at a time. Tifa or Barret had better go first since you've done it before."

"As have I," Red pointed out. "And in my experience, creatures with four legs usually climb better than creatures with two. I suggest that I go first."

"Be my guest," said Barret. "I'll go second."

They approached the pylon, and Tifa said, "The last time we did this, climbing all the way from the bottom would have been much too dangerous because of the power lines. But now that they're no longer running, it's not a problem."

"So how did you get to the top last time?" asked Elena.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Go on."

"All right – there was a dolphin in the water that had learned to jump out of the water, over the power lines. Cloud sat on its back and had it bounce him up there. You wouldn't believe how many tries it took him to get it right, but he did eventually, and once he was up he threw down a rope for the rest of us to use."

Elena scoured the pylon, perhaps in the hope that the rope might still be there and save them a climb, but it was nowhere in sight. Red made his way out to the pylon, gripped it with his front and hind legs, and began to climb to the top. The others watched, trying to memorise his route, noting how he got past difficult sections, then he was at the top and Barret began on his way up. Cid followed after him, sweating and swearing all the way, alternately cursing his age or lack of a cigarette, but he reached the top without any real problems, and Barret gave him a hand up. He found himself standing at the edge of the runway where the Shinra had kept the Highwind. Red was prowling around, sniffing the tarmac floor, keeping a close eye out for any enemies.

"It seems safe," he said.

They waited until the rest of the party had joined them, then quickly made their way to the door that led inside the airbase complex. Red and the two Turks took the lead, pushing the door open slowly, taking a cautious look through to see if anyone stood on guard.

"…nobody."  
"So it seems. Keep your eyes and ears open all the same."

They passed through the door and ventured further into the complex, treading as carefully as they could, sticking to the shadows whenever possible. Red lifted his head and sniffed the air. Good, there were no humans in the area. In fact it seemed nobody had passed this place in the last one or two hours.

"Where is the research facility in this base?" he asked.

"…"

"Underground," Reno replied. "Take the path that leads to the underwater reactor, and there's a secret passage that gives access to the labs. You didn't find them last time you were here, I take it?"

"We did not," Red admitted. "We were in too much of a hurry trying to stop you taking away the Huge Materia."

Reno wasn't sure whether or not there was a veiled accusation in the lion's statement, so he replied simply, "All in the past now. I'm concentrating on the present."

"As am I! I think it is safe to proceed."

They signalled to the others through the open doorway that it was clear for them to follow, then Red led the two Turks along the corridor, pausing to sniff the air every few moments to check for danger. It seemed that this part of the base had also been devoid of any human presence for the last couple of hours. This was a good sign, since it surely meant Hojo was weakened. Otherwise, Red reasoned, the base would have been much more heavily defended. He hadn't expected to get this far without having to get into a fight so far, and was pleasantly surprised that they'd managed to proceed this far undetected. He wondered how long it would continue.

They left the small corridor and found themselves on the Junon path. The wide street, on which they would have expected to have seen one or two people at the very least, was completely deserted. The shops at the side of the path appeared to be shut, the doors closed and sturdily barred.

"I don't like this," Reno said uncomfortably.

"…it feels like a trap."

"My feelings also," Red agreed. "We must proceed with extreme caution. Watch out for ambushes. Hojo may not be as unprepared for our assault as we would have liked to believe."

By this time the other six members of the party had joined them as they surveyed the silent emptiness that was the Junon path.

"Too damn quiet," Barret muttered. "Something's not right."

"Hey, Vincent!" said Cid, facing the raven-haired man. "You getting any of your feelings of impending doom?"

"I'm afraid not. Chaos lies dormant just now."

"Some %&^$ing timing! Well, we can keep on going, or we can turn back and maybe lose our only chance at damaging Hojo. I say we press on."

Nobody argued, so they continued on their way. They turned left at the corridor that led to the elevator which would take them down to the underwater levels. There was still nobody in sight and the party were feeling seriously edgy.

"Maybe we're imagining it," Tifa said hopefully. "Maybe we've weakened Hojo so badly that he hasn't got any troops left to defend him. He must have left those three super soldiers guarding the town elevator since he thought it was the only way to get up here."

"Could be…" said Cid. "If that's the case, I'd bet he isn't even here. He probably got word that we were coming and ducked into a hole somewhere."

"He won't give up or run that easily," Vincent disagreed. "He's invested too much into his campaign of terror. If we do manage to stop him, it won't be as easy as this."

No-one responded, and the party continued in a morose silence until they reached the elevator. Cid punched the button and the nine of them crammed inside the small elevator car as soon as the lift doors had opened. Their descent was smooth and silent, and when they reached the bottom the lift doors slid open and they saw immediately that the corridor beyond was empty.

"Where is the location of this secret passage you mentioned?" Red asked of Reno.

"Right over here," said the senior Turk.

He walked over to a large red pipe and reached behind it to pull a hidden lever. A section of the wall slid inside, showing a darkened passage leading inwards.

"That leads to Hojo's lab?" Cid asked.

"Right," said Reno. "Red, you go first."

With Red in the lead, the party moved in single file down the narrow passageway. Red sniffed the ground as he went, and suddenly his head jerked up, "I am picking up Hojo's scent. He is here."

He turned a corner, and found the door to Hojo's lab standing before him. Putting one ear to the door, Red listened out for any indication that Hojo was inside.

"I hear nothing," he said eventually. "I will assume it is safe to proceed."

Taking a deep breath, Red sat on his hind legs and pushed the door open with his front paws. The room inside was brightly lit, and their eyes took a moment or two to adjust after having been in the dark passageway. Vincent was the first to recover.

"Hojo is not here," he muttered.

"He's gotta be here somewhere!" Barret said impatiently.

"Search the room," said Cid. "There must be another exit."

Tifa scoured the room with her eyes, "There isn't."

"Dammit! Where the hell is he?"

"Hey, hey!" Yuffie exclaimed. "I found Cloud! Cloud's here!"

The others hurried towards the excited ninja. As they got there, they saw Cloud, lying motionless beside a wooden chair with some scraps of rope scattered around him. Tifa knelt by his side and cradled his head, "Cloud? Can you hear me?"

"Is he – dead?" asked Elena.

"No – he's unconscious. Cloud, can you hear me?"

Cloud stirred and he uttered a low groan, putting his hands to his head. Immediately a series of voices began barraging him with questions.

"He's awake!"

"Cloud, you all right?"

"Where's Hojo?"

"Can you stand? We've got to get out of here."

Cloud's only response was another groan, holding his head in his hands, his body beginning to shake.

"Cloud! Are you OK?" Tifa asked him, starting to feel a little concerned.

He looked up at her, "Uhh – uhh – Tifa?"

"Yes! Where's Hojo?"

"Hojo…" Cloud whispered. "No…I can't…I must resist…"

"What da hell's goin' on?" Barret demanded.

Suddenly a change came over Cloud. He stopped shaking and sat up of his own accord, no longer needing Tifa's support.

"Fools," he hissed. "All of you."

"What?"

He jumped to his feet and placed his hands on his hips, "I no longer need you. I am the world's most powerful warrior! I do not need the rest of you."

"Hey, your spikey head better not be gettin' too big for your own good!" Barret retorted. "Quit actin' like a moron and let's get da hell outta here!"

Cloud laughed – a low, unpleasant-sounding laugh that they had never heard from him before – and countered, "It is already too late for you to run. Look behind you."

Barret and the others glanced round.

"Hojo!" Vincent snapped.

The scientist stood in the doorway, his hands clasped at the small of his back, a small, beatific smile on his cruel, pointed face.

"You are fools," Hojo laughed. "You walked straight into my trap without even thinking about it."

"You think we're fools?" Barret yelled. "We ain't da ones who are outnumbered nine to one here!"

"Oh, I think I can redress the balance," Hojo smirked.

He snapped his fingers, and six of the genetic super soldiers appeared from the darkened corridor behind him.

"^%$&," Cid gasped.

"Indeed," Hojo smiled. "If anyone one of you makes an attacking move, my soldiers will tear you apart. Your Limit Breaks may be of some use against them, but in this enclosed space you will not have a chance."

He walked across the lab, past a shellshocked Yuffie and Reno, and patted Cloud on the shoulder, "Well done. You have betrayed your friends, just as I knew you would. You have served me well."

"Thank you, Professor."

"Cloud?!" Tifa shouted. "How could you do this to us? How could you betray us to our worst enemy?"

"Shut up," said Hojo. "I don't have time to answer all of your stupid questions. Cloud, let us leave your former friends to their fate."

Hojo turned and walked to the exit. Without a word, Cloud followed him, shrugging off Tifa's hand as she grabbed hold of his arm.

"Cloud…please…" she called as he walked past her. "What has Hojo done to you?"

"He has opened my eyes."

"Opened your eyes?"

"Yes. I see now that I do not need you or any of these others. There is only one person I need, and the Professor will bring her back to me."

"Who? Do you mean Aeris? What are you talking about? Cloud!"

But it was too late. He had already left the room, oblivious to her voice. Tifa sank to her knees in despair, "No…Cloud…don't do this to us!"

The door slammed shut behind Cloud, leaving the nine heroes and the six soldiers. The silver giants stood silent and still, barring the room's only exit.

"What do we do?!" asked Yuffie desperately.

"Wish I knew, kid," Cid said morosely, lighting what he thought might be his last ever cigarette. "We're out of aces."

Barret kicked one of the tables over, sending glass vials and other laboratory equipment crashing to the floor, while he shouted angrily, "There's gotta be another way outta here! We got in here from a secret passage, right? Maybe there's another secret passage leadin' outta here!"

Before they could begin a search, however, the six super soldiers suddenly came to life. They raised their weapons and cast their eyes over each member of the party, as if they were deciding on targets. There were six identical clicks as the weapons were checked and primed.

"What do we do?!" Tifa yelled. "Cid! Reno! You've got to think of something!"

She looked horrified as the two party leaders cast blank, helpless expressions in her direction. The six super soldiers took aim.

"Noooo!!" Yuffie screamed.


	17. A True Friend

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FF7 OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS

Chapter Sixteen

The party members backed up against the wall, looking around frantically for some way of escape, knowing that if they didn't find one they'd be dead in seconds.

"Don't we have any Limit Breaks?" Reno yelled.

"Just mine and Rude's!" exclaimed Barret.

"We're &$%^ed," said Cid, tossing away his cigarette and gripping the Venus Gospel in both hands. "Time to die fighting."

"FIRE!" the lead soldier commanded, and the six of them responded in unison.

Things seemed to move in slow motion as the super soldiers fired their weapons, and the heroes dived to the floor to avoid the first round of bullets, with the exception of Cid who defiantly stayed on his feet, miraculously avoiding being shot. He was therefore the only one who saw the doors behind the soldiers flung open, though he couldn't make out who was in the darkness beyond. Was it Cloud? Had he come to senses at last and returned to help them?

As he saw the four dice rolling out of the darkness towards the feet of the super soldiers, Cid knew it wasn't Cloud. The soldiers, preoccupied with reloading their weapons, hadn't seen Cait Sith's dice, and Cid watched with bated breath as the four small cubes rolled to a stop. 

Four sixes. Unbelievable. The chances against it had to be about – 

"BRACE YOURSELVES!!" Cid yelled, diving behind a wooden bench and covering his head with his hands, hoping the rest of the party were in similarly protective positions.

The huge explosion shook not only the laboratory, but the very foundations of the Junon harbour. Chunks of falling rock and other debris fell on top of the heroes. Vincent was the first to get back to his feet.

"The soldiers have been destroyed!" he shouted. "Quick! We must get out of here!"

The party scrambled to their feet, Cid and Reno supporting a slightly dazed Barret, and ran to the exit.

"What _happened_?" they heard Yuffie demanding. "Who set off the bomb?"

"That wasn't a bomb, it was Cait Sith's Limit Break!"

"But Cait Sith isn't here!"

"Yes he is! Don't you remember Reeve had brought one of the early prototype Cait toys to the Highwind for Marlene to play with? He must have found out we were in trouble, and sent Cait down to help us!"

"Of course!" Tifa exclaimed. "But what do we do now? Where's Hojo and Cloud?"

"They could be anywhere," said Elena.

They emerged from the darkened secret corridor into the main passage that led down to the underwater reactor. Red put his nose to the ground, then nodded towards the elevator, "They went this way!"

The heroes crammed into the elevator once more, and Tifa punched the button for the upper level. They ascended in silence. Once they reached the top, Cid threw the door open and they hurried out, looking for any signs of their enemy. Red sniffed the ground, "There are too many scents. I cannot tell which way they went."

"They won't have gone down to the dock, that's a dead end," said Tifa. "They must have headed back to the airstrip, the way we came."

They ran along the Junon path, retracing their earlier steps, each with only one thought on their minds: get Hojo. Up ahead they noticed something lying on the ground, a dark unmoving shape, too far away to tell what it was. Only Vincent and Red, with their inhuman vision, could make it out.

"Oh no," Red gasped, the hairs on top of his head standing up in apprehension.

"What? What can you see?" asked Cid.

"It is bad," said Vincent.

As they got closer to the object, they could see what it was.

"Oh no. Oh no! _Reeve_!!" Tifa screamed.

They clustered around the fallen figure of Reeve, lying on his front, completely motionless in a pool of his own blood. A short-bladed dagger protruding form his back told them how he had been attacked.

"Reeve? Are you all right? Can you hear me?" Tifa said anxiously, kneeling down beside him.

"He's gone, Tifa," said Barret.

Reeve wasn't quite gone. At the sound of their voices, he raised his head a few centimetres and croaked, "Ho…jo. Stabbed….me. Don't worry…about…Marlene. She is…safe…"

He slumped forward again, as if the effort of speaking had taken the last of his remaining strength. Tifa put her fingers on his neck, looking for a pulse, but there was nothing. Yuffie cried into Tifa's shoulder. Vincent narrowed his eyes and said, "Yet another of our friends is dead because of Hojo. How many more lives will he take?"

"None – not if we can help it!" Cid declared. "Reeve's given his life to save us, so we'd damn well better do something about it! We're gonna move out! Right now!"

He turned and broke into a run towards the airstrip. The others followed him, Reno pausing only briefly to take off his blue suit jacket and place it reverently over the dead form of Reeve. There would be time for them to mourn him properly later.

They arrived at the airstrip at full speed, only to see Hojo's getaway plane already moving down the runway.

"There he goes!" yelled Cid. "Kill the damn son of a &^$%*!!!!"

Barret pointed the Missing Score at the fleeing aircraft and opened fire. Vincent took careful aim with the Death Penalty and fired, denting one of its wings. Elena primed a grenade and flung it at the plane, but it landed a few yards short, causing no damage. The aircraft picked up speed and performed a successful take-off as it left the runway, climbing into the sky and disappearing from the sight of everyone but Red and Vincent.

* * *

They found the Highwind flying in a lazy circle a few miles south of Junon. Marlene saw them approaching and threw down the rope ladder. The ship was travelling slowly enough that they climbed on board without difficulty, and Cid ran to the bridge. Marlene ran to Barret and he hugged his adopted daughter, reassuring her, "It's OK, honey, we're all right."

"What about Uncle Reeve? He went to save you and left Cait Sith flying the ship! Is he OK?" she exclaimed.

"Uncle Reeve…Uncle Reeve won't be coming with us any more," said Barret sadly. "I'll tell you about it later. Daddy needs to talk with the others just now."

The party congregated on the bridge where they found Cid bringing the ship back on to a normal flight path.

"I see now what happened," he told him. "It wasn't Cait Sith who threw the dice down in the lab – it was Reeve. He must have left Cait here with some basic instructions on how to fly the ship. That explains why she was just circling round endlessly when we found her."

He pointed to where the Cait Sith doll stood unmoving, its hands still on the ship's controls.

"It must have been deactivated when Reeve died," said Red.

Cid nodded, "That's my guess."

"What about Hojo?" asked Vincent urgently. "Can we follow his ship?"

"Count on it! If my new engine can't outrun Hojo's piece of junk I'll never smoke again!"

He put the engines to full power, heading in the direction they'd seen Hojo's ship taking, and found themselves going west. Before long, Hojo's ship was in sight, just above the horizon.

"We don't want to outrun him," said Tifa. "We just want to keep him in sight. If we get too close to him, he might panic and do something regrettable."

"Like kill Cloud?" Reno suggested.

"Yes, like kill Cloud. We've got to find out where he's headed, then sneak up on him."

"I don't understand what happened to Cloud," said Elena. "It was like Hojo had taken control of his mind."

"I was wondering that too," said Tifa. "It was exactly like the times before when Sephiroth and Jenova took control of him."

"But they're both dead," Barret argued. "It can't have anything to do with them."

"Perhaps it can," said Red. "Think about it. Jenova is dead, but Cloud's body still carries some of her cells. As does Hojo's. Do you remember when we met Hojo – or his clone – on top of the Mako cannon? He told us he'd injected Jenova cells into his own body."

"So Hojo and Cloud both have some Jenova cells," said Reno. "So what? Doesn't make Jenova any less dead."

"No, but that might be the method that Hojo is using to control Cloud. If Hojo injected Jenova cells into his own _brain _– this is all highly theoretical, of course – it is possible that he might acquire the ability to control other small pockets of Jenova cells."

"Such as the ones inside Cloud?"

"Yes. Obviously it isn't as easy as that. After all, most of Cloud's body is still his own cells, so it would be difficult for the small number of Jenova cells to take over. But all Hojo would have to do would be to weaken Cloud's resistance, make him suggestible enough, then he would – but this is all highly theoretical, of course – be able to take over Cloud's mind."

"What do you mean: 'make him suggestible enough'?"

"I mean that Hojo would simply need to offer Cloud some arrangement that he might agree with. Because Cloud's natural instinct would be to defy Hojo in any way he could, this would make it extremely difficult to take over his mind. But if Cloud agreed to a suggestion Hojo made, it might open the way for Hojo to take control of his mind. Of course, this is – "

" – all highly theoretical," Reno and Cid chimed in.

"That would explain another thing," said Elena. "Remember I said that Hojo had some kind of transmitter in his brain to control the super soldiers? What if he's controlling them with their Jenova cells, same as Cloud?"

"Yes," said Red thoughtfully. "Yes, that sounds reasonable."

Yuffie interrupted, "But what deal could Hojo have offered that Cloud would have accepted?"

Barret shrugged, "Dunno, kid. I can't imagine Cloud agreein' to _anything_ that crazy %&£$er suggested."

"I can," said Tifa morosely. "When Cloud passed me in the lab, I heard him say 'there is only one person I need, and Hojo will bring her back to me'. He must have been talking about Aeris."

"Aeris…" said Vincent.

"Can Hojo bring her back?" asked Cid dubiously.

Red shrugged, "Cloning her body would be easy enough, providing he has a sample of her DNA. Whether or not that would bring back the Aeris we knew and loved, I do not know. It is possible the DNA of an Ancient contains more than physical genes, but it is beyond my knowledge."

"Even if it's possible, Hojo is probably lying," Reno said. "He needed something to convince Cloud with, and that was the best thing he could think of."

"I'm not so sure…" said Vincent. "I knew Hojo better than any of you, and he was never a man given to bluffing. If he told Cloud he could bring back Aeris, he was probably telling the truth. Or at least, he thought he was."

"If it's possible…" Tifa said in a whisper. "Aeris…we could bring her back from the dead…"

"What about Reeve?" asked Yuffie. 

"No, he isn't – wasn't – an Ancient. It would only work for someone like Aeris."

Cid spoke up, "We're approaching the western continent, kids. Looks like Hojo's going to Nibelheim."

"The Nibel reactor," said Tifa. "Do you think it was Hojo who attacked us with the poison darts?"

"Unlikely. As far as we know, he was in Midgar," said Red.

"We can ask him when we catch up with him," Barret growled. "Though it would give me great satisfaction for me to send him to his grave straight away."

"I would ask that I be the one to kill him," Vincent said grimly.

"He's just landed at the Nibel reactor," Cid reported. "I'll land somewhere in the mountains so we can approach on foot."

They touched down on a flat open space about halfway up the mountain range, not far from Mt Nibel.

"OK," said Cid, killing the engines. "We need a plan. Any suggestions?"

"Our first priority has to be to free Cloud from Hojo's control," said Red. "Killing Hojo would do the trick, but that might be hard with Cloud on his side. And there may still be some super soldiers left to contend with."

"Is there some way we can disrupt Hojo's mind control?" Yuffie suggested. "I know I don't know anything about it, but still…"

"I don't see how," Cid frowned. "It's not like jamming an electronic signal."

"Why don't we hit Cloud with some kind of sedative?" Elena suggested. "It'll knock him out and keep him out of harm's way during the battle, then he'll be back to normal once Hojo is dead."

"There's still the super soldiers."

"True…"

"We should just take the place by storm and overwhelm Hojo," Barret suggested.

"Too risky. We might end up having to kill Cloud to get to Hojo."

"I have a suggestion," said Vincent.

"Let's hear it."

"Going back to Yuffie's earlier idea…about disrupting the mind control. I was thinking…Hojo uses the Jenova cells in his brain to control small pockets of other Jenova cells in his soldiers?"

"That's right. Well, that's what Red reckons."

"What would happen if we were to introduce a large number of Jenova cells into the vicinity of Hojo? Would his Jenova cells be able to cope?"

"It would depend on how large a number you are talking about," said Red carefully.

"Are you suggesting what I think you are?" asked Tifa.

Vincent shrugged, "I don't know what you're thinking. But my suggestion is to find some of Jenova's remains, and bring them with us, to throw off Hojo's control."

"That might work," said Red, the excitement in his voice growing. "Yes, that just might work!"

"But where do we find Jenova's remains?" asked Elena.

There was silence for a few moments. Then Tifa suddenly looked up and said, "The ocean liner that used to run between Junon and Costa del Sol. When we fought Jenova there, part of her limb was left behind. We left it there, as far as I remember."

"…in that case I have bad news," said Rude. "It came to my attention during my time in the Midgar police force: that ship was sabotaged and sunk somewhere in the ocean a month ago. We'll never find it."

"You forget," said Cid. "We have the submarine from the Junon underwater reactor. The sub's scanning equipment should help us find the sunken ship."

"Don't forget the Shinra building laboratories," said Red. "I doubt any part of Jenova is still kept there, but it is still worth a look."

"We might also find something in the Forgotten City," Vincent suggested. "Where Aeris died. We fought another of the Jenova incarnations there. I don't remember if any of her body remained, but again…it is worth a look."

"Right," Cid agreed. "That's three places to search. We don't have much time, so I'll have to drop off people at different sites. We mustn't slip up! Everything depends on us finding some piece of Jenova's stinking corpse and bringing it back here to defeat Hojo!"

Red nodded sagely, "More so now than ever, failure is simply not an option."


	18. The Final Confrontation

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FF7 OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS

Chapter Seventeen

The Junon port facility was now bereft of Hojo's troops, which made it easy for Cid, Tifa and Barret to head down to the underwater reactor where, as far as they knew, the submarine was still docked. When they got down there, they were relieved to see that the sub was still in place and did not appear to have suffered any damage or modifications.

"Can you still remember how to pilot this thing?" Tifa asked of Cid as they climbed on board.

"Yeah, I think so. Did Shinra boy give us the co-ordinates where the ship went down?"

Tifa shook her head. Rude hadn't been able to remember the exact co-ordinates of the sunken ocean liner, but he'd given them a fairly large search area in which he was certain the ship would be located. Unfortunately, searching the whole area would take a lot of time – time they didn't have if they wanted to stop Hojo from harming Cloud. They'd just have to hope they got lucky, or that one of the other teams had success.

Vincent, Red XIII and Yuffie had gone to the Forgotten City, where they'd battled one of Jenova's early forms, to search for any of her remains. The three Turks had travelled to the Shinra building, to search the laboratories where Jenova had once been resident. With luck, one of the three teams would find something, some part of Jenova's body that they could use to disrupt Hojo's control over Cloud's mind.

Once they were inside the sub's control room, Cid glanced over the controls and said, "Yeah, it's coming back to me. Piloting this baby won't be a problem."

"Good. We'd better get started."

Cid ignited the engines and brought the sub to full power, heading away from the dock.

* * *

Vincent and Red travelled in silence as they made their way through the rocky passage that led to the Forgotten City. Yuffie had long since given up her attempts to start any kind of conversation, and was lagging behind, bored by the silence and lack of action. The path to the Forgotten City was both longer and colder than she remembered, and she was longing for something to happen that might liven up events.

"Vinnie! Red!" she called. "How long till we get there?"

Vincent and Red glanced round at her, then exchanged glances.

"You asked us the same question ten minutes ago, Yuffie," said Red. "And the answer is still the same: we don't know."

"Why not? We've been this way before!"

"Yes, but we did not measure the time taken," the lion replied. "And we cannot take the exact same path as before, since there have been heavy snowdrifts recently."

"This is _so_ boring!" Yuffie complained. "Can't we look for Materia on the way?"

"No. We cannot afford to waste any time. Now please be quiet; I do not want to talk right now."

She folded her arms crossly and glared at the two of them as they walked on ahead of her. In the distance, just below the misty horizon, they could see the Forgotten Capital. That was their destination, and where they hoped to find the key to Hojo's undoing.

* * *

It was midnight when the Turks reached the Shinra building. It too was now free of Hojo's presence – the whole building appeared to be empty – and as such they encountered no resistance as they entered the building by the front door.

"Hey, Reno," said Elena. "I was wondering. Assuming that we manage to find some part of Jenova, and defeat Hojo. What happens then? Are we still working with the AVALANCHE?"

Reno turned to face her, "Of course not. We're only co-operating with them just now because we have interests in common with them. Once Hojo's gone, we'll go back to what we were doing, and they'll go back to whatever it is they do."

"Hmm, OK. I was just thinking that we seem to be getting along pretty well with them now."

"…the fight against Hojo has brought us together with them. That doesn't make them our friends," said Rude.

"But they could be," said Elena. "The AVALANCHE are all right – well, some of them. When we worked for the Shinra we were told that AVALANCHE was a terrorist group, but having spent time with them, we can see that isn't true."

"You're too naïve," said Reno wearily. "Just because somebody seems nice on the surface, it doesn't mean you can trust them. They're our allies on a temporary basis, but it's not going to last forever. I don't think it would be a good idea to enter a long-term relationship with them. If it ever got to a point where we needed them more than they needed us, we wouldn't be free to make our own choices any more. I don't want to go that way."

Elena didn't reply; she was too busy considering what he had just said. By this time they had got inside the elevator and were on their way to the upper levels.

"The Jenova chamber was on the 66th floor," Reno reminded the others. "That's where we'll look first. Hojo's personal lab is also on that floor. That'll be our secondary priority."

The other two nodded, and they waited in silence for the lift to reach floor 66.

* * *

"How we doin'?" asked Barret from his position in the back of the submarine's bridge.

"Nothing yet," said Tifa. "We're still searching."

She was operating the sub's scanning equipment while Cid piloted the craft slowly through the murky water. Barret kicked the sub's hull with impatience, "This is takin' too damn long! Hojo could be doin' all kinda stuff to Cloud while we're wastin' time down here!"

Cid threw him a glare, "I'd be able to concentrate better on driving this thing if you would shut up for ten %$^in' minutes!"

"I've had just about enough o' your damn swearin'!" Barret declared.

Tifa put up her hands and tried to calm them down, "Stop arguing, both of you. It's too hot in here and you're both getting cranky."

"I'm not cranky!" Cid exploded. "I just wish he'd shut the ^%$& up!"

Tifa ignored him and said, "Barret, why don't you go and make sure the diving equipment is ready? We'll almost certainly need to leave the sub and search the ship ourselves."

Barret nodded, and got up to leave. Cid began breathing a little easier, and returned his attention to the submarine's controls. He patted his pockets for a cigarette and swore under his breath when he remembered he hadn't got any. Tifa went back to using the scanning equipment, hoping they'd find something soon. They'd already been searching for an hour and found nothing but rocks, seaweed, fish and more rocks.

* * *

When they at last arrived at the Forgotten Capital, Yuffie was too exhausted to be bored, forcing herself to keep going, step after step, following the tireless figures of Red and Vincent ahead of her, seeing the sun sink further and further below the horizon, feeling more and more of her strength ebbing away. She refused to give up, though. Yuffie was determined to show no signs of weakness, especially not in front of Vincent.

At last they stopped, and Red lifted his head to sniff the air. Yuffie sank down gratefully on to the floor for a much-needed rest. Vincent surveyed the area with his usual detached lack of emotion, and his hand brushed aside his cloak to rest on the butt of his shotgun. Eventually Red looked at them, "It is strange…I smell something…but I cannot tell what it is."

"What does it smell like?"

He sniffed again, "Human…definitely human. I think it is female. Other than that I cannot tell. We are not alone here."

Yuffie shrugged, "I don't see what's so sinister about that. Could just be someone who's come here to explore."

"No, it is not the smell of the person that worries me," said Red, his nose twitching once more. "It is something else…something I have smelled before…something terrible."

Vincent narrowed his eyes and scanned their surroundings once more with his superhuman eyesight, "I see nothing."

"Can't you remember where you smelled it before?" asked Yuffie.

"Yes. I remember now," Red answered. "I can smell the poisonous plant: the flower of vengeance. Somebody has brought it here."

Vincent grabbed the Death Penalty from its holster and flicked off its safety catch. He scanned the area again, keeping watch for anyone who might try to attack them.

"Do you mean Hojo? Do you think Hojo is here?" he asked.

Yuffie shook her head, "Nah! There's no way he could have outrun the Highwind and got here before us! Besides, Red said it was a woman."

"I would have known instantly if it were Hojo," Red agreed. "He has a very distinctive – and unpleasant – scent."

Vincent's arm twitched and he began to look increasingly uneasy.

"Chaos is stirring," he told them. "He senses danger. He wants me to transform."

"Somebody must be out there, hunting us," Yuffie said. "But I'm not worried! With Red's sense of smell, and Vinnie's eyesight, we must be a step ahead of them already!"

"I do not think so," Red frowned. "We do not even know who it is. It must be somebody new, somebody who has yet to play their part."

"Weird. Who can it be?"

"I have no way of knowing that. I suggest we complete our errand and be on our way as soon as possible."

Vincent agreed, "I will remain here and keep watch. You two go down into the Capital and search."

* * *

A quick search of the 66th floor revealed that the Jenova chamber, now being used as a storage compartment for hazardous materials, contained no remains whatsoever of its previous occupant. Only too keen to leave the dark, foul-smelling room, the Turks headed for Hojo's personal laboratory.

"Do you really think he's kept a sample of Jenova in his desk drawer, for old times' sake?" Elena asked. "I mean, what's the likelihood of us finding anything in here?"

As they entered the lab, Reno sighed and said, "Elena. You talk too much."

The three of them worked in silence: quickly, efficiently searching the room, as they had been trained. Eventually Rude was heard to mutter, "…I wonder what this is."

"What do you have?" said Reno.

He and Elena walked over to stand beside Rude. The stoic man was holding an opened box, which was filled with packaging foam. The foam contained two small recesses in which an object might be placed. One of them was occupied. Rude picked up the object in the niche for a closer look.

"…" he said.

"Interesting," said Reno. "I wonder if…"

"If what?" asked Elena.

"If this is what I think it is."

"Why, what do you think it is?"

"Never mind," he said. "I'm betting it's something the AVALANCHE would give anything to get their hands on."

"Aren't we going to give it to them?"

Reno smirked, "Not yet. I think this will prove to be a very effective bargaining chip."

"But I thought they were our allies!"

"Elena. You are too naïve and you talk too much."

* * *

Tifa entered the sub's bridge and sat down next to Cid.

"Whassup?" he asked.

"Reno just called me on his PHS. They've finished searching the Shinra building and found nothing. They're heading back to the outskirts of the city to wait for pick-up."

"Well, they're in for quite a wait," Cid said, unable to resist a grin at the thought. "Hell knows how long it'll be till we're done here."

"Hopefully not too long. I've left the scanning equipment on automatic so it should let us know when we find it."

At that moment there came a beeping noise from the scanner, and Tifa leaned over for a closer look.

"What's it saying?" Cid asked.

Tifa hit a couple of the controls and gasped, "We've found it! We've found the ship! It's dead ahead!"

"Great! Nice work! Now get hold of Barret and we'll go out there and have a look!"

Cid brought the sub to a halt just short of the sunken ship, and they hurried into the sub's main compartment where Barret had the diving gear ready.

* * *

It only took a few minutes for Yuffie and Red to ascertain that their trip north had been a waste of time. There were no Jenova remains to be found in the Forgotten Capital. The whole area had been swept clean by ferocious blizzards during the power struggle between Meteor, Holy and Lifestream. Anything that might have been left lying around after their battle with Jenova, was now long gone. They decided not to waste any more time, and headed back to the surface where Vincent was waiting.

When they got there, the raven-haired man was sitting on a rock with his shotgun still held in his hands, continuing to survey the surroundings, constantly on the lookout for an attack. His body was tense and rigid, every muscle prepared to jump into action. He glanced round when he heard them coming, and raised his eyebrows, "Find anything?"

"Nope," said Yuffie. "Complete waste of time."

"I only hope that we do not live to regret wasting that time," said Red. "We must go back to the south shore and wait for Cid to pick us up."

"Wait!" Vincent hissed. "I heard something."

The other two fell silent, as Vincent listened intently. Eventually he frowned and said, "I was sure I heard somebody. I could have been mistaken."

"I would rather we not take any chances," said Red. "Clearly there is somebody following us."

"So what do we do?" said Yuffie. "I say we find them and kick their ass!"

"We can't," Vincent pointed out. "We don't even know who it is. Plus, they've got the poisonous plant and they might use it against us."

"So – what? Are we just going to run away?"

"We cannot afford to be delayed," Red replied. "We must regroup the others and go back to Mt Nibel to save Cloud."

"In that case we must leave now," said Vincent. "Keep your eyes open and your wits sharp. We are definitely not alone here."

Yuffie cast an apprehensive glance over her shoulder, in case their enemy was creeping up on them. She grabbed her Conformer from its place on her back, and held it protectively in front of her, announcing, "I'm ready for anything!"

"Look!" Vincent exclaimed, pointing ahead.

The other two looked up and could vaguely make out a dark figure, off in the distance, disappearing into the shadows. Vincent brought the Death Penalty up to shoulder height and trained it on where he'd last seen the person.

"Who was that? Do you think it was the person who's following us?" Yuffie asked.

"Yes."

"We must go," Red urged.

He led them down the path that led back towards the Bone Village and the southern edge of the island. Yuffie walked slightly behind him, looking apprehensively in all directions, while Vincent brought up the rear, his eyes constantly scanning their surroundings for any hint of movement. Red sniffed the air and looked confused.

"I recognise this person's scent," he said in an uncertain voice. "I must have smelled them before – recently. But I still do not know who they are."

"In that case, they must have been following us for some time," said Vincent. "I wonder if…no. But it is strange that we don't know who it is."

"Very."

Two or three hours later, they reached the south shore of the continent, and had just sat down to wait for pick-up, when Vincent's PHS began ringing. He answered, "Hello?"

"Vincent, it's Tifa. We've found it! We're coming to pick you up."

"You've found part of Jenova on the ship?"

"That's right. Part of her arm was still there from our first battle with her. It's started to rot a bit, so be prepared for the Highwind to smell a bit worse than usual."

"I expect Cid is less than delighted about that," Vincent commented dryly.

"Tell me about it," Tifa sighed. "Anyway, did you find anything?"

"No. But there is something strange."

"What?"

"We think we're being followed. But we don't know who by. All we know is that they have the poisonous flower in their possession."

"Weird. I'll mention it to the guys. Make your way to the south shore and we'll meet you there."

"We're already at the south shore."

"Great. We'll be there in about ten minutes."

Vincent hung up and told the others what Tifa had said.

"That is good news," said Red XIII. "I wonder how the Turks are faring."

* * *

The Turks were climbing the stairs that led to the President's office at the top of the Shinra building.

"Reno!" Elena cried as she quickened her pace to keep up with the two senior Turks. "Where are we going? We agreed to meet the others at the entrance to Sector 3!"

"We're not going to regroup with the 'others'," said Reno.

"What? I thought they were our allies! I thought we were going to help them fight against Hojo!"

"Yes, we were. But that was before I discovered this little treasure of Hojo's."

His hand absent-mindedly brushed against the pocket in which he had the object. Elena shook her head, "So why the change of plan? They need our help!"

"To be honest, I don't think they do. I think their plan, using the remains of Jenova, will work. Our presence in the fight will not affect the outcome. Personally I feel we would be best served giving ourselves a head-start in the race for power after Hojo is gone."

"Power? I thought we weren't interested in gaining power," she said, sounding confused.

"We weren't, but only because we had no ready access to it," he corrected. "You are so naïve, Elena. There are three kinds of people in this world: madmen, like Hojo, who will destroy themselves with their own insanity; foolish idealists like AVALANCHE, who will lay down their lives for what they believe is a worthy cause; and lastly there are realists, like myself, who only look for the most logical and rational ways to further their own interests."

"But I thought the AVALANCHE were supposed to be heroes…"

"Heroism, Elena, is awarded posthumously. People will only remember the AVALANCHE as heroes after they are dead. While they are alive, they are seen as troublemakers, people who stir up conflicts and interfere with the basic harmony of life."

She looked at him strangely, "Reno – are you feeling all right? You don't usually talk like this. You usually spend your time wondering where the next beer is coming from."

"Yes. That's an illusion I like to create," he said. "For the first time in my life, I'm ready to make a real stab for power. So forgive me if I seem a little over-excited."

"I don't know…" she said reluctantly. "I still don't feel comfortable about betraying the AVALANCHE. You can call me naïve if you like, but – Rude, what do you think?"

"…" said Rude.

"Thanks, you're a great help," she said sarcastically. "All right, I'll go along with you just now. But I don't like this, I don't like it at all. I don't think Tifa and the others will like it either."

"If everything goes the way I intend it to, we'll be in a position where it doesn't matter what they think," Reno assured her. "OK, first we'll – "

Just then there came the shrill tone of his PHS. He picked it up and answered it, "Reno here."

"Reno? This is Tifa. Are you done yet? We're on our way to pick you up."

Reno smirked, "I'm afraid we shan't be joining you this time. Something else has come up."

"Are you _sure_? We really need your help, Reno!"

"Sorry, Tifa. It's too important. Give my regards to your friends."

He hung up and tossed the PHS over his shoulder to land in an open-topped garbage can.

"Right, that's that," he said. "Now let's sit down and begin planning our new empire."

Reno and Rude turned and headed for the President's office. Elena watched them go, then turned back to face the bin in which the PHS lay. When neither of them was looking, she picked up the PHS and slipped it into her pocket. Then she ran after them, "Hey! Wait for me!"

* * *

"They aren't coming," Tifa announced to the others.

Vincent looked up, "Why?"

"Huh," Barret grunted. "Good riddance. They weren't no damn use anyway! Right, Cid?"

"For once I agree with you, man," Cid nodded. "Damn glad to get them dumb %^$£s off my ship."

"I dunno," Yuffie shrugged. "I kinda liked Elena. But as for Reno…"

"I liked Rude," Vincent offered. "He was quiet, unlike most of you. He shared my passion for piano music also."

Red chuckled, "They were…interesting people."

"Well, we'll have to go on without them," Tifa said. "We'll just have to hope our plan does work, otherwise we'll be in severe trouble. Cid, how long till we reach Nibelheim?"

"Not long. What's the plan?"

"Fight our way into the reactor and find Cloud as quickly as we can," she said. "We have to take Hojo by surprise before he can find some way to strike back."

"In theory, it should be fairly easy," Red added. "Our plan should render the super soldiers inactive, and bring Cloud back to our side. Hojo's ordinary troops will pose us no problem. The only danger is Hojo himself."

"Right," Tifa agreed. "We don't know how powerful he has made himself over the last two months. We also don't know just how little sanity he has left. For all we know, he might have some self-destruct system built into the reactor, that he can use to take us all out and himself with us, if he suspects we're about to defeat him."

"There's one piece of good news," said Red. "We've managed to reprogram the Cait Sith toy to act without Reeve's telepathic control. That means it can stay here and look after Marlene for us, while we do battle with Hojo."

"I dunno," Barret said uncertainly. "I don't like the idea of leavin' her alone with only a dumb robot to look after her."

"The robot still has all of Cait's powers," said Vincent. "She can instruct it to defend her against anyone who boards the ship."

"OK, we're almost there," Cid interjected. "I can land in the mountain range in a few more minutes. Everybody get ready."

The party members checked their weapons and accessories, and Red and Tifa went down to the operations room, where the remains of Jenova's arm was carefully stored in a sturdy metal container. It was designed to protect the fragile rotting tissue from damage, but unfortunately did nothing to contain the smell.

"Oh, this stinks," Tifa gasped. "This has better work."

"If you think it is bad, try having a feline's sense of smell," Red choked. "Once we are within a close enough proximity to Hojo, we can stow this away somewhere safe, and go on without it."

"Amen to that."

Carrying the box between them, they hurried to the lower deck and prepared to disembark.

* * *

Hojo looked up from his work as the guard saluted in the doorway.

"Sir, our look-outs report the AVALANCHE airship is approaching!" the man told him.

"Very well," said Hojo. "I will send the super-soldiers to destroy them. After that, you will take some explosives and destroy the airship."

"Yes, sir!"

The man left and Hojo closed his eyes, concentrating his mind on the super soldiers. He only had five left, after the six in the Junon facility had somehow been killed, but that was still more than enough to finish his enemies. Hojo focussed his thoughts on controlling the soldiers, and transmitted the command to move out.

Strange. Nothing had happened. He closed his eyes again, calmed his mind, and sent out the command. It still didn't work. 

"Hmm. Something must have happened to the soldiers," he muttered.

He focussed his thoughts on the soldiers again, and tried to determine where they were and what they were doing. Odd. They were on guard, just as they should have been. Why weren't they responding to his commands?

Suddenly it hit him. An overwhelming weight pummelling his mind, demanding his attention, filling every neurone in his brain.

"What the – " Hojo gasped, falling on to his hands and knees. "What the – hell is – going on?"

He tried to concentrate on communicating with his soldiers, but his mind couldn't handle the sheer mass of thought being forced upon it. What was happening to him? He had to calm down. There had to be a scientific explanation.

Of course. Jenova cells. Thousands, millions, _billions_ of Jenova cells, all seeking to communicate with the ones in his mind. Somehow, he didn't know how, the AVALANCHE had got hold of some Jenova cells.

"Damn it!" Hojo cursed, slamming his fist on to the floor, still on his knees. "I can't believe I overlooked something so simple! I – can't – take this – "

His mind still being buffeted by the Jenova cells, he realised he only had one hope. Turning, he saw Cloud nearby.

"Strife!" he yelled. "Get out there! Kill them!"

Cloud stood a few feet away, sword in hand, looking confused.

"Huh? W-where am I?" he said. "Professor Hojo? What's going on?"

Hojo cursed once more as he realised he had lost control of Cloud's mind. Forcing himself to stand, he grabbed Cloud and pushed him into a chair. The swordsman was still too bewildered and disoriented to know what was happening, and Hojo managed to tie his arms and legs to the chair before his mind returned fully. When it did, Cloud gave an angry yell and began straining against his bonds.

"Hojo!" he demanded. "Let me go! What the hell have you done to me? Where am I?"

"You – fool," Hojo gasped. "Your friends – think they can – defeat me…"

Stumbling across the lab, unable to cope with the strain on his mind, Hojo had no aces left to play. He knew he couldn't win this round. He had to get away from those Jenova cells. He had to escape. He headed for the escape capsule he'd secretly built into the reactor.

* * *

The six party members hurried up the steps at the entrance to the Nibel reactor, and immediately knew that their plan was working.

"Look!" Cid yelled. "The damn sons-of-&*$&^es can't do a thing!"

Before them stood five of the silver super soldiers, motionless, looking more like robots than living creatures. Yuffie whooped with delight, "It's working! They're knocked out! Does this mean we get Cloud back?"

"In theory," said Red. "I can smell Hojo. I think he is on one of the upper floors. Where are the elevators?"

"Over that way," said Tifa. "Let's go!"

They rode the elevator to the top floor, where Red assured them that Hojo's scent was strongest, and found themselves face to face with three very scared-looking human soldiers.

"Don't shoot!" they implored. "We surrender! The Professor's gone! Your friend's in the lab at the end of the corridor!"

"Cloud!" Tifa exclaimed. "OK, Barret, Cid, you stay here and keep an eye on these clowns. Red, Yuffie, you start looking for Hojo. Vincent, we'll get Cloud."

The others nodded and she hurried down the corridor towards the door at the end. Flinging it open, she saw Cloud, sitting with his back to the door, struggling against the ropes that tied him to his chair.

"Let me go!" Cloud yelled. "Hojo! Are you still there?"

"Cloud!" Tifa said. "It's me, I'm here! Vincent, cut him loose."

With a swipe of his metal claw, Vincent tore through the ropes that held Cloud. The swordsman leapt to his feet and unsheathed Ultima Weapon.

"Hojo went that way!" he announced, pointing to a door on the opposite side of the room. "He seemed really ill or something, though! I bet we can catch up with him!"

They hurried through the door and found themselves faced by a long corridor with another door at the end. That, in turn, led to a much larger room, with a narrow walkway leading over to a door on the far side. Looking down, they saw a huge pool of liquid Mako, several floors below.

"The reactor's secondary Mako tank," Vincent told them. "Watch your footing. If you fall in there, you won't come out alive."

"Hojo must have gone this way," said Cloud. "Unless he fell in. We'll soon know. Let's go!"

He led the way across the walkway, holding on to the hand-rails on both sides for support, hoping the structure of the walkway was sturdier than it looked. He was halfway across when he looked back to check on the others. Tifa was right behind him, looking down apprehensively into the pool of Mako. Vincent was slightly further back, an uneasy expression crossing his face.

"Something's not right," Vincent said urgently. "Chaos is sending me a warning. Something's about to – "

A huge explosion shook the room and the middle section of the walkway was blown away. Cloud was thrown to one side, and managed to grab on to a hand-rail to stop himself from falling. He saw Tifa managing to catch hold of something, and she shouted something he couldn't hear. His ears were still ringing from the explosion.

"What was that?" he yelled, but realised she couldn't hear anything either.

Vincent – where was Vincent? Cloud pulled himself back up on to what remained of the walkway, and pulled up Tifa to stand beside him.

"Where's Vincent?" he just about heard her yell.

He shrugged. The raven-haired man was nowhere to be seen. Both of them looked around the room anxiously for several seconds, then, almost in synchrony, they both turned horrified glances to the Mako pool at the bottom of the chamber.

"You don't think he – "

"No. He couldn't have – "

"VINCENT!! Where are you?"

There was no reply, but the one good thing was that their hearing had returned.

"He can't have fallen in – he can't have…"

"Oh, but he can."

The two of them whirled to see Hojo standing a yard or two away.

"Hojo!" Cloud snarled, angrily running towards his nemesis.

The scientist met his furious rush with a single punch, sending him skidding back along the floor of the walkway, stopping mere inches before falling off the edge. Hojo smirked, "I thought you had already learned that fighting me was a pointless exercise, as I will always be stronger."

"You've lost, though," Cloud answered, forcing himself to smile through the excruciating pain and the blood oozing from his nose. "We've beaten you at last."

"On this occasion, perhaps. Your use of Jenova cells was quite ingenious. It will, however, only stop me temporarily. You, on the other hand, will not live to see another battle."

Cloud tried to get to his feet, but his body was too tired and sore after the explosion and the devastating punch from Hojo. The scientist sneered down at him, and reached out with impossible speed to grab Tifa by the wrist and pull her towards him, forcing her arm behind her back, rendering her powerless to resist.

"Tifa! Kill him!" Cloud urged.

"I can't! He's too strong!"

Hojo laughed, a laugh tinged with hideous insanity. With his other hand, he reached into the pocket of lab coat, to remove a syringe filled with a poison-green liquid the same colour as his eyes.

"See this?" he said. "This is the fastest-acting, most lethal toxin known to man. No cures, no antidotes, it kills within seconds of administering. I should have used this on you to start with."

"Why didn't you?" asked Cloud, trying to keep Hojo talking until he or Tifa could think up some escape plan.

"Because, frankly, I didn't take you seriously. That was perhaps a mistake. I thought it better to toy with you, watch your bumbling attempts to stop me, then finish you off swiftly. It didn't work out that way, unfortunately. I underestimated the power of your Limit Breaks against my mutated soldiers. I also didn't factor in the possibility of the Turks joining the equation."

"Hah. You've lost now," Cloud laughed, trying to sound more cheerful and triumphant than he felt.

"I think not. Once I kill you and your little friend here, I will take my escape pod and flee this reactor. I will then adjourn to my most secret research facility, and continue my campaign from there. It was a valiant attempt to stop me, on your part, but it was always doomed to be unsuccessful."

"No – we've finished you – you've got nothing left – " Cloud groaned, feeling the elation of victory replaced by the numbing frustration that Hojo would slip through their fingers once again.

"If you have anything to say to Miss Lockheart, I suggest you say it now," Hojo told him, as he removed the syringe from its plastic container, and readied it for injection.

"Cloud…" Tifa said weakly.

"Tifa…no…I can't lose you like this…"

The scientist laughed malevolently, "Goodbye, Tifa Lockheart."

He lowered his hand to inject her with the poison.

Vincent shot Hojo in the back, blowing apart his spinal cord, sending him sprawling forward on to the walkway. The syringe fell from his fingers and rolled off the edge, down into the Mako. Tifa wrenched herself from Hojo's grip, and hurried over to Cloud. Vincent blew smoke from the end of his shotgun, and calmly viewed the body of their enemy. Hojo's glasses had slipped off, and he blinked myopically in Cloud's direction.

"You think…you have won…" he gasped with his last few breaths. "There will…always…be others…like me…"

Despite the pain, Cloud struggled into a sitting position, and embraced Tifa.

"I thought I'd lost you," they whispered to each other, almost in unison.

The thought of losing Tifa sparked off another thought in Cloud's mind. He tried to stand, couldn't, and crawled over to Hojo's dying form.

"Professor," he asked urgently. "I have to know…what you said about bringing back Aeris…is it possible?"

Hojo was gasping painfully, coughing blood, but he nodded his head slowly and managed to speak, "Yes…you will find her…blood sample…in my office…the cloning machine is…on the second…floor…"

He choked up one last measure of blood on to the platform, then his body fell limp and he stopped breathing. Hojo was dead.

"At last…" Tifa breathed. "It's over…"

"My love is finally avenged," Vincent said, standing with his arms folded and his shotgun once more holstered at his side.

"Vincent," Cloud said suddenly. "How did you survive? We looked all around…after the explosion…you weren't there!"

"I transformed," Vincent explained. "Into Chaos. He can fly, of course."

"Of course…"

"Chaos sensed that Hojo was coming, so I hid in the shadows and waited for him to come out. I then had to transform back to my own body to shoot him. It can sometimes take time to convince Chaos to allow me to change back when there is still danger. I was almost too late."

"Why didn't you just let Chaos kill him?"

"I could have…but I had to do it myself…I couldn't let another finish him. I had to avenge my love. I had to avenge Lucrecia and all the other deaths that Hojo was responsible for. Myself, Sephiroth, Aeris…"

"Aeris!" Cloud repeated. "You heard what he told me, right? We can bring her back!"

"I heard. You wish to try it?"

"I'd do anything to have Aeris back."

"Yes. That was why Hojo was able to manipulate you into falling under his control."

Cloud frowned, "I don't remember any of that. But Vincent – we could bring Aeris back!"

"I know. I heard you the first time."

"He said her blood sample was in his lab, didn't he?" Cloud asked excitedly. "And the cloning machine was on the second floor?"

"That is what he said, yes."

"Well, come on! The sooner we start, the more time we get with Aeris! Let's go!"

He helped Tifa to her feet, and the three of them hurried along the damaged walkway, back towards Hojo's lab. There would be time later to clean up all the damage Hojo had made, and hold a proper memorial service for Reeve. Right now all Cloud could think of was the flower girl he'd known for such a brief time, but had shared so much with even in those few short days. He'd thought she was gone forever. Soon she'd be back with them…soon.


	19. It's a Beautiful Day

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FF7 OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS

Chapter Eighteen

"How long will it take, Red?" asked Cloud excitedly, unable to keep still.

Red XIII shook his head, "I do not know, Cloud. That is the third time in the last hour you have asked me that question. I did not build this cloning machine and I know nothing about it, besides what little I have been able to glean from Hojo's private notes."

"But it's working? Everything is going OK?"

"As far as I can tell."

"We're going to bring her back – over the last two months I've dreamed of so many situations, so many ways in which we might resurrect Aeris. I can't believe it's actually happening."

"I'll be glad when it does finally happen," Cid yawned. "If it means you might sit down and shut up for a change."

"But I'm just so excited! Aren't you?"

"Sure, but I'm not acting like a kid over it."

"More like a cynical old man," Vincent decided.

Cid pretended not to hear, and leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms, "So, what? This whole thing's over? Hojo's dead and things are back to normal?"

"That's about the size of it," Cloud nodded.

"Perhaps not," said Red. "There are still some things that remain unexplained. For example, who was following us through the Forgotten City. It was somebody with access to the Flower."

"Probably the same person who poisoned Barret and me in the Nibel reactor that time," said Tifa. "We still don't have any idea who it is?"

"Isn't it just one of Hojo's flunkies?" asked Barret.

"Possibly," Red shrugged. "But whoever it is, they're still at large. And with enough of the Flower's poison to cause a lot of damage. Tracking them down will need to be one of our priorities."

"Sure," Cid agreed. "Shouldn't be too hard. Getting rid of Hojo was the difficult part. Now we just have to mop up the remains of the mess he made."

"Right. This time we _will_ make sure the Nibel reactor is deactivated," Cloud said. "That'll stop anyone else from coming back and continuing Hojo's 'work'."

"One thing will never be the same again," said Vincent morosely. "Reeve will no longer be among us."

The others fell silent at the mention of their dead friend.

"He gave his life for us," Cloud said eventually. "We'd have been finished if he hadn't intervened. We'll have to hold a proper ceremony for him, and notify his family."

"He doesn't have any family," said Tifa.

"Probably just as well. I hate bringin' good folks bad news," Barret said.

"We also have to get in touch with the Turks and tell them what happened," said Red. "We still do not know what made them split from our group. It may be a problem that they need our help with."

"Huh. Screw 'em," Cid grunted. "They didn't help us against Hojo when we needed them – I say we just return the favour."

For a while, nobody could think of anything to say. Then Tifa turned to Cloud and said quietly, "Cloud? Can we have a word? Alone?"

"Sure."

He followed her out of the room that contained the cloning chamber, and into the relative cool of the corridor outside. Tifa closed the laboratory door behind her and faced him.

"OK, Cloud. First of all, I just want to say that I want to have Aeris back just as much as you do. But there's still something I need to know. I don't know what, if any, feelings you might have for me, but I'm going to tell you one thing right now: I love you. I was ready to settle down and make a future with you, when this Hojo business erupted. Now that Aeris is coming back, well…"

"What?"

"I just want to know where I stand. If you'd rather be with her, then I won't get in your way. I'll do whatever makes you happy. If you'd rather be with me, then that's great. I just don't want there to be any misunderstandings, and I don't want anybody to get hurt."

Cloud had raised his eyebrows and was looking at her in surprise. He'd never known her true feelings for him before, and it was a surprise – though a pleasant one – that the affection he had for her was reciprocated. It was several moments before he trusted himself to open his mouth without stumbling over his words.

"Tifa," he began, searching for the right words. "I do like Aeris. She's a great friend and she's special to me in a way that nobody else is. But I don't love her in the way I love you. If I am going to settle down and live my life with somebody, I want it to be you."

Tifa's face spread into a delighted smile, and they drew together for a kiss. When they parted, she said, "I only hope Aeris understands. I know she liked you a lot. In a way it feels wrong to be bringing her back, only to tell her that you and I are in love."

"It shouldn't be a problem. There were – are – plenty of other things Aeris likes other than me."

"Yeah, I suppose."

They kissed again, then Tifa gave him a little smile and said, "We'd better get back inside before the others start to get suspicious!"

She went back inside the cloning laboratory, and Cloud was about to follow when he spotted a movement in the shadows. Frowning, he moved over to investigate.

"Yuffie!" he exclaimed angrily. "Were you listening to our conversation?"

"No!" she said hurriedly. "I was just – I was going – and I – "

"You were eavesdropping, weren't you?"

"No, I wasn't! I was just standing there! It's not my fault if you two decide to talk within hearing distance!"

He looked at her suspiciously, but said nothing. She gave him a coy grin and said, "So – you and Tifa, huh?"

"If it's any of your business – yes."

"Of course it's my business! You're my friends! Don't you trust me?" she asked. "Cloud, don't you?"

Cloud looked at her, judging how serious the question was. There was no sarcasm in her voice, and her face showed nothing but innocent curiosity. He almost laughed at the thought of it: Yuffie, actually asking if he trusted her.

"Yuffie, if I dropped a Materia on the floor, would it still be there when I turned around?"

She hesitated, "Well, it would depend what kind it was."

"How am I supposed to trust you if you're still obsessed by collecting Materia?"

"I'm not obsessed!" she snapped. "I wouldn't steal it off you, either! I'd give it back if you asked for it! I've tried so hard since that one time I stole all your Materia, but you still won't trust me! I give up!"

"Yuffie…"

"I made a mistake, all right! You can't make me spend the rest of my life paying for it! I thought you might have forgiven me by now!"

She turned away from him and he heard her crying.

"Yuffie," he said gently, touching her shoulder. "I have forgiven you. I wouldn't have let you back in the party afterwards if I didn't trust you."

"You're just saying that to make me feel better."

"No, I'm not. It's true. The party wouldn't be where we are now if it wasn't for you. I'm – I'm proud to have you as my friend."

"Huh. Then you're the only one. If you're even telling the truth."

"I am. What about – "

He was cut off by excited shouts from inside the laboratory. The door was thrown open and Tifa appeared, "Cloud? Oh, hi, Yuffie. Cloud, we think it's almost ready. Hurry!"

Cloud forgot about Yuffie and followed Tifa into the cloning room. Red and Vincent stood by the machine, carefully watching various data screens, and pushing buttons and switches left, right and centre.

"Is it working? Is she – " Cloud began.

"Please do not distract us!" Red implored. "This requires the utmost concentration! Vincent, on my mark, begin the final sequence! Three…two…one…now!"

They began hitting more switches, scanning the screens even more intently than before. Cloud felt Tifa's hand grasping his own, and he squeezed her palm gently. _I love you_, she mouthed silently. Cloud smiled.

"That is it!" Red declared, hitting the last button with a suitable flourish, and turning his attention to the small window that looked inside the cloning chamber.

"Is she in there? Is she all right?" Cloud exclaimed.

"I cannot see. I must wait until the gas clears. Various gasses were used in the cloning process, and they should dissipate – ah – any moment now."

He pressed his front paws against the chamber's outer door and peered through the window. His eyes widened and he stepped back.

"Did it work?" Cloud yelped.

"Um – sort of. Take a look for yourself."

Cloud let go of Tifa's hand and hurried forward to glance through the window into the cloning chamber. The naked figure inside the chamber was conscious, and looked up at him. Cloud stared back into those brilliant emerald green eyes.

Emerald green eyes. The figure stood, long silver hair flowing around their upper body: a lean, well-muscled figure that most certainly did not belong to Aeris. The figure looked around the inside of the chamber, and pressed a hand experimentally against the chamber wall.

"Cloud? Did it work? Is she OK?" he heard Tifa asking.

Cloud sank to the floor, a sick feeling washing over him, along with a horrific, paralysing sense of failure and disappointment. He held his head in his hands and couldn't speak.

"Cloud?" Tifa asked. "Did something go wrong? Didn't we bring her back?"

"We brought somebody back," Cloud said in a flat, toneless voice. "But it wasn't Aeris."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that we've been had. Hojo tricked us to the last. We haven't resurrected Aeris. We've resurrected Sephiroth."

****

The End

A/N: well, thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed the story; if so, please leave a review. Thanks to those who have already reviewed! The story took a long time to write and if you liked it then it was time well spent.

There will be a sequel, whenever I get around to writing it (unfortunately I'm rather busy right now). It will follow on directly from this story, and will clear up all the loose ends as well as introducing a new enemy. The Turks will be back (naturally) and Sephiroth will have a part to play. Until then…


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